Silent Stares
by ImmortalxPoison
Summary: This is a story created for NANO, once again...not based on any books, soley my creation. Enjoy. Leave edits.


**Like water dripping from my fingertips; her body fell beneath my reach into the underworld where no one would love her like I did. The fall seemed to take all eternity, in that moment just standing there beside her. The rain drenching us to our bones, finally the sound of her flesh hitting the cold concrete, her soul gone to the winds. My own knees fell down; water splashing around them, blood tearing from her body surrounded me. My hands became soaked in her red poison. **

**Chapter 1: Bruised**

Six months Earlier

October 30th

"Jesper, if you honestly cannot do any better than this then I do not think that you will pass this class!" Miss Ezebel exclaimed in front of her class at the student who just snickered and high fived his partner under the table. She just rolled her eyes and finished handing out the graded assignments which have been done the night before. Once mine came to my desk I saw the usual A plus stamped in her scented purple marker along with her dearing smile that she always gave to me.

"Can I talk to you after class gets out Annie?" she asked me, I just nodded. I had no idea why she needed to talk to me but it could not be about my perfect grades, the reason speaks for itself. For the rest of class we just studied like she requested, I was probably one of the only if not, the only person to actually do this assignment. The bell finally rang and everyone sprung from their seats as if they were electrocuted. I walked over to the teacher's desk putting my papers into my binder.

"So what's up Miss Ezebel?" I asked her in a friendly tone having always been close to her in and out of class, she had met my family a few years back when my older sister came through this high school.

"Just wanted to ask how everything is at home now that…things have changed," she said cautiously. She had managed to snake her way into becoming my councilor as well over the years.

"My grades are fine so I think things at home are well as well…do not worry Miss Ezebel if anything were wrong, you would be the first to know if I told you or not." My words were slightly sharp towards the end, all unintentional. I apologized to her quickly her smile never faltering a top quality of hers.

"I will be expecting that report on your chosen fairy tale on time then, no excuses."

"I have never made an excuse, and never had a late assignment and you know that, if that is what you wanted to tell me you should have told Jasper to stay, he may benefit from it more than myself," I said with a slight grin, she put a finger up to silence my chat about another student.

My feet dragged me out of my classroom down the hall towards the double doors that led to freedom from the typical every day nightmare we high school students call Education. Once I stepped outside the bag I had slung over my shoulder rested on my hip with my binder and sketch pad. The sun was warm oddly enough being the day before Halloween. I did not bother taking off my warm jacket I had on since that would just be more to carry. That is when I saw him, Shawn Brent the basketball captain and the chess team captain. He had smarts and appearances all in one, the perfect man. My brain seemed to stop understanding reality but continued to walk because my feet suddenly found my face as I tripped down the four or five stairs that led into the courtyard. Luckily it was grass at the bottom so my fall did not end tragically. Unluckily, everyone including Shawn and his girlfriend Melissa had seen it and were laughing loudly at my fall. I felt a bruise instantly begin to form upon my rump when I stood up. It would be a deep purple by time I got home; and that meant sitting was going to be an issue. I just groaned quickly trying to get off scene, not letting my red embarrassed cheeks shine the way. I found the front of the school in just two minutes and my sister was honking the horn viciously as she pulled up next to me. I just got into the car still feeling the glares of everyone watching me.

"What is wrong Annabelle? Is that a bump on your head?" she asked reaching over still in clear view of the others. I swatted her away and put on my seat belt, before I flew out the window from her driving. She put the car into drive and sped through the lot cutting off a few people I knew. I still had no idea how she got her license last year. She looked over at me curiously as I rubbed my head looking for that bump she was talking about.

"To the left above your eye, looks like someone punched your lights out that may be a black eye in the morning. What the hell happened anyway? Did your imaginary boy toy's girlfriend get mad again?" she asked with a light laugh, I shot her a glare. She had the most beautiful blond hair any human being could possibly ask for, and bright green eyes. As for me, I was stuck with my dad's terrific genes of ugly tangled up brown hair with matched shit brown eyes. Most people did not believe that we were related, especially the boys that dated her. Whenever they would come over to the house to 'Hang Out' they would nearly fall over laughing when she told them that I was her baby sister. But I have not really had to deal with that since she graduated last June. "I am just saying Nani," she spoke the name my grandmother blessed me with the day of my birth "Shawn is far out of…well your reach. Not league I mean you are my sister you could have anyone. He just already has a girlfriend; it is not worth becoming the home wrecker." Her words of wisdom came from obvious personal experience, many of which I could still remember.

"Drop it." I told her dully as we pulled up to the light, it would be another ten minutes in the car with her so I turned the radio on the blur out anymore of her would be friendly advice. The mainstream trend music pumped through her new stereo system into my ears even though my attention was caught on my reflection in her mirror. Compared to her, I was just the family ugly duckling. Even my parents thought so; although they will not admit it to my face it Is quite obvious. They expect me to get perfect grades because they know that is the only way I will get anywhere. Unlike Shannon, who could just smile and her gleaming teeth with get her out of a ticket and into the top college for free. Funny part about that it was that really happened.

"Devin really wants you to come over some time you know, you two never really got to know each other. And he wants everyone in the family to consent to our marriage, including you. So he wants to spend so time, the three of us. How does the third sound?" she spoke once she turned down the voices on the radio which had turned to weather and traffic on the eights. I just shrugged; it was not that the guy was not nice, I just was not sure that he was the one for my sister. After all she was only nineteen and trying to get married to a twenty six year old cop. He knew how to get what he wanted and he apparently wanted a fresh girl out of high school. The only time I had met him was a few months ago at my parents anniversary party when my sister and him announced their engagement along with her huge rock. "Soooo? Is that a yes?" she pushed the topic, I looked over at her. Those eyes, I could not say no to her, especially at a time when I knew I might not see her as often as I did now. She already lived with him a few blocks from home.

"Okay, but only if you promise not to drag me somewhere lame," my last few words were cut off from her excited scream and the radio being turned up way higher then I had it. Her favorite song had begun to blare, her hands on the wheels wiggling in her seat with anticipation, smiling at me. I tried to feel her excitement but it was just not there.

She finally turned onto the street that led to home; we lived in one of those creepy towns where all the houses look the same on every street. The perfect little neighborhood as they advertised it, which was how we ended up moving here when I was four supposedly. I do not remember too much about the move or anything before that. I got out of the car once she finally stopped, my feet thankful to be on solid non-moving ground. Instantly my mother's arms flung right past me and around Shannon; as usual.

"I am so happy for you!" she exclaimed, I was not sure why though; we all knew she was getting married already. That was when I saw it; my mother's hand went to Shannon's stomach.

"What?" I went over to them almost angry that I was being left out of this. "Happy for what?" I pressed on. The two of them looked to each other, my mother obviously having gone and spoiled the surprise. Shannon just smiled and pushed her shoulders towards her neck with anticipation as the words came out.

"I am pregnant Annie!" she shouted then covered her mouth from the surprise of her own voice. I just raised my eye at her, pregnant already and not even married. "So I and Devin are going to move the wedding up for two weeks from now so I don't have that huge baby belly in my wedding dress. There were so many comments I could have shouted at her, and of course the worst came out instantly.

"Well you can't wear white, white symbolizes purity…pure women do not marry men seven years older and get pregnant BEFORE the wedding!" I yelled at her going towards the house fuming now, and guess who steps out. Devin in his officer uniform his charming smile which was probably started this whole problem.

"Did someone yell?" he asked looking at me as I got closer. I took my anger out in the first way my fist sought fit. It collided with the spot between his legs.

"Maybe next time you can wait to make babies till she's at least old enough to drink you scum," my words were spat like a terrible drug. Everyone outside was almost in astonishment since I was usually very calm with my emotions. I locked myself into my room moments later turning on some AFI, my favorite band. For the next few hours I just scribbled in my sketch pad, a picture of a man with deep black hair, jaw line very taught and definitely perfect, I only got his face and torso drawn by time someone came knocking on my door. I shot up at the white barrier.

"Who is it, and what do you what?" I asked dully, having lost any care for them at that moment. It was Shannon's voice who answered me.

"Annabelle… come on now, don't be mad at me for this, it is not like we planned it. We did want to do the marriage thing first but…grown-ups," she started; I instantly cut her off jumping off the bed to my door.

"You are fucking nineteen Shannon you are not a grown up, and who calls it that anymore it is an adult you imbosol!" I screamed at her, getting the attention of Devin who stood down the hall watching. "And you, you are the..." I could not finish my sentence, my fists balling up. Shannon backed up cautiously. "Forget me coming over, forget me all together cause I am done with it Shannon. You used to be my big sister who always showed me what was right… now you are just a teenage mom to be," the door slammed in her face. I could hear a small muffled cry, and Devin patting her back trying to comfort her. I could not understand how my parents were so calm with all of this, so approving of this. If I had gotten knocked up my parents told me that they would send me to live with my grandparents over in Africa! The rest of the night went without much movement from my room, just the occasional trip to the bathroom and once to the kitchen to steal my plate of dinner while they were all talking about baby stuff in the living room. I finally fell asleep around eleven that night.

_His scent filled the air around me, my legs feeling weak like I was about to fall. I stood in a room unknown to me, like a jail cell in some old renaissance castle. I could not see much, only a small fire inside a torch lamp that hung on the wall, I went over to pick it up as if I had known to do this. My fingers felt the warmth, it felt amazing. I turned on my heel to look around the room still smelling this mystery mans scent, who was it? I had no idea but I knew he was handsome, he was my lover, and he was the one I wanted for all eternity. It was an addicting scent to my nostrils, the light did not show anyone but myself in the room but I could feel him. "Hello?" I called out "Demetrius?" My lips knew his name but my brain did not, I continued to whisper his name moving out of the cell through the open bar doors and looked to both my sides right and left down the long halls borders, the one to my left had an open door that led to a visible scene outside. It was mid day it seemed, nothing threatening out there. The other door was jammed closed with a large lock, old and rusty. But I had the key it seemed, I pulled it out of my bra I had on, since I was wearing an old red dress that dragged on the floor. It was deep red, tight on top like a corset and the bottom flowed like that of a princess dress. The key itself was rusted as well, matching the locks age. My eyes looked from side to side, my heart racing; I could hear voices although I had no idea where they came from._

"Annabelle wake up, you're about to miss school!" My mother's voice echoed in the halls of my dream until my subconscious was pierced and I sat up in a sweat, my heart still beating twice as fast as usual. I did not even notice that my body was on the very edge of the bed until my weight shifted and my face met the floor, the bruise on my forehead from the day earlier was now matched with a small scrap on my chin. My door swung open and my mother walked in with a laundry basket. "Someone is going to think we are abusing you with all those cuts you keep getting," she told me throwing a rag at my face since apparently I was bleeding. She just grabbed a few of the dirty shirts I had left on my floor and then walked out. I looked at the rag unsure if it was clean or not, I dropped it on the floor going into my bathroom and cleaning my face up. I looked at my clock, only five thirty, how was I going to be late? I got dressed still feeling the anger in my chest from the day before, nothing seemed to go right.

My feet brought my body down to the breakfast table, my eyes still basically closed wanting to go back to sleep. My bruised forehead met the table slowly, everything falling into a slow trance of relaxation. That was until bright bubble Shannon walked in, "Good morning family" she said going over kissing my parents cheeks then sat across from me, as if nothing had happened she poked the top of my head. I just grumbled at her moving my arms clumsily under the table hitting them, more pain to myself, fantastic. I lifted my head and her reaction was that of surprise. "Annie, why do you have a black eye?" she asked me, I looked at her odd. My mother came over nearly knocking the chair backwards to have a look at my eye which really woke me up.

"What the hell are you talking about? And ow mom could you be any less delicate?" I pulled away getting to my feet walking towards the bathroom down the hall, thinking it was some prank to get back at my attitude from last night. But this was no prank, my eye was darker then Shannon when she got a tan during the summer and that was dark. I leaned closer over the counter, not sure why since a black eye is a black eye no matter how you look at it. I pushed my hair back putting my fingers slowly over the edges of the bruising. Where had this come back, I did not get punched, the fall could not have done it and I had been sleeping all night. I walked back to the table and sat down, my father walking into the scene.

"Beat yourself up Annie?" He laughed slightly pouring himself a cup of coffee. I grabbed my bag and Shannon's hand pulling her up to her room where she had her make-up.

"Fix it," I pleaded sitting on the bed "I cannot go into school looking like this!" I shut my eyes expecting her to start applying some sort of powders and lotions to hide it but instead I felt the spot next to me on the bed sink from her sitting down. I opened one eye and groaned. "Shannon, come on I only have…a half hour until I have to get outside for the bus. And this ey-"She put a finger on my lips; she always had that soft touch unlike mother.

"Yesterday…" she said quietly, apparently it was still hurting her inside.

"Look, I am sorry but can we talk about it later I have to go to school!" I told her frantically seeing the clock said she actually only had fifteen minutes left until the bus came.

"You were really upset last night and you said some very hurtful things…which made me think and you are right. I am too young to be pregnant and far too young to be married." Even though it was nice to hear her say that, she said them backwards. "I told Devin I could not marry him and that…I am terminating the baby tomorrow." She was obviously trying to hold back tears as she spoke, I just sighed and shook my head.

"No, don't do that, which is just stupid. Abortion is wrong anyway, it is already a life; you cannot just murder it because of your baby sister getting angry. And…you love him, so don't let that change." I got up; I would rather go into school with a black eye then feel guilty about a baby's murder and a marriage undone due to me. I stopped in the doorway looking back at her. "Sorry about what I said last night, I guess I was not ready to let my big sister grow up, so used to us being so close…" I shrugged a bit seeing her get to her feet, she was a big hugging person so I knew what she was going to do; I darted down the hall grabbing my hobo bag with my school books and left the house, not realizing that it was about to rain. My jacket did not have a hood so within minutes I was standing in the middle of a morning downpour. Naturally, the bus was over ten minutes late and I could feel my weak immune system being attacked by an oncoming cold. I could always tell when I would get ill, ever since I was a little girl. By time I sat down I felt my stomach gurgle from lack of food now. The ride was not pleasant, nor was most of my day. The looks from students were not that of laughing but actually more of fear, as if I were about to attack them. When I went up to my one friend Joan she shut her locker door nearly jumping when she saw my face.

"Annie," she said holding her chest taking a deep breath "Did you really…murder someone?" she asked quietly, I just raised an eye. So that is what everyone was talking about.

"Yeah, my entire family and hopefully they do not come back as zombies!" I exclaimed loudly at passing stares that scattered away. She just laughed a bit at that lifting the book in her arm closer to her chest.

"Well someone has started a nasty rumor that you got so angry about something that you went off killing everyone that was there last night." We began to walk to our next and last class of the day.

"Who would waste their breath on something so dull like that," I sighed "How bad is the eye?" I asked looking over at her who cringed a bit.

"Looks like you got into a serious fist fight, where did you get that anyway?" She asked me, I just shrugged. I still could not think of where it had come from at all. Unless I really did beat the shit out of myself in my sleep which I would not entirely doubt after everything.

"Just woke up and it was there. I think I am going to skip though…and head home instead. Make sure that my zombie parents are not munching on everything in sight," my humor was probably not right at that time but she still laughed waving me off and I snuck out one of the back doors that the guards never watched. I decided to walk home which took me a good part of an hour, about the time it would have been taken to just sit through the class. But I was sick of the talking and the looks I was getting. I needed time to cool off and just blare some good music. The cut through I took in the woods was pretty deserted at all times. It was one of my favorite places to hide in when my family got on my last nerve. There was a small path that led from one side of town to about the center, I usually branched off from there and found a large dirt mound that had the perfect view of the sunset. I had fallen asleep out here a few times but it gets far too cold out to just sleep in the woods especially lately. I strayed from the path towards my spot, taking my shoes off at the bottom and digging my toes into the cool compact sand. I climbed up it, my footing gets loose at times, the sand becoming dry in some parts are crumbling. Once I made it to the top I threw my hobo bag to the ground before sitting down on the flat top taking out the lighter in my pocket. There was a small hole between my feet that I had dug about two weeks back, some dried out twigs in there with leaves. I lit it up and a fire blazed within minutes which warmed my hands that swayed over top of it. I was what they call a pyro with all the fire I light. Always a candle burning in my room when I am at home, a lighter in my pocket at all times. The sun was still up but it was nearly time for the yearly trick or treater's to start their rounds. The children would be out until about six when the older kids came out and wreaked havoc on the town. Most of the houses left candy on the steps which after one greedy fat kid would be empty the rest of the night. My parents were one of the few who actually sat outside and welcomed children to our porch to hand them little cavity candies. The wind blew slightly and my fire was put out in a matter of seconds, I groaned going to find my lighter which I had put on the ground but could not find it. I twisted my body looking around but instead of a lighter I found a pair of shoes on someone's feet unknown to me. I looked up but the sun was too bright for me to see their face. And that was when I caught their scent in the wind, the same scent in my dream. I am not sure how I connected the fictional smell to the real life situation but I was certain of it.

"Demetrius?" I asked quietly, if it was not him I would simply say oops. But there was no answer, just a hand reaching down for mine. I could feel my cheeks burning and my eyes tearing up as I tried to see past the blinding light. I took the strangers hand and was lifted to my feet, yet somehow I still could not see past the light.

A laugh made my eyes focus and I saw Shannon standing at the bottom of the mound, somehow I had gotten so close to the edge that I lost my balance and fell rolling down the sand to the bottom right next to my shoes.

"Looks like you were attempting to dance with your imagination again," she said helping me up. Although I had been upset with her lately she was still my very best friend, my sister. I just shook my head quickly looking up on top of the mound.

"I was not alone though, ther-" No one was up there anymore, I started climbing back up there maybe they were running away and I would not be made to look like a fool.

"Annie its fine! There is nothing with pretending to dance with your imaginary Shawn," she teased me a bit as I got to the top. My bag and my lighter were there but no one in sight, just the rustling of branches from the wind. She was right behind me, shoes on for her. "What is going on with you lately Annie, you are not yourself anymore…It is scaring me a little." She admitted to me, her voice showing complete truth, as we both stared out at the sky. It was dark on the outskirts of town it seemed, nothing but blue skies here. "Looks like a storm, better get home or you're going to be stuck out here when the lightning strikes." She turned around going down the hill in her jeans and sweatshirt. I followed suit moments later grabbing my shoes and walking home with her. My mother was already handing out candy to the little ghosts and monsters that wandered the streets. She had put on her apron and gotten it messy to make her look like a chef. She dressed up for the little kids, and every year she said the same thing to me.

"Annie, you should go dress up, and we can hand out candy together!" she told me as we came into speaking distance. I just shook my head, which had been my answer since I was thirteen and the whole mother daughter candy deal had gotten a bit too old for me. I walked past her and let Shannon dance around sucking up to her as usual. I had to think about what had happened in the woods, I was not asleep but nothing that happened added up. She said I was alone, when clearly someone was there with me, unless the sun blinded her as well. I just tried to shake it off by lying on my stomach on my bed with my sketching pad open on the picture of a man who had been in a few old dreams from my childhood. I had begun a few nights ago to draw him, trying to remember the details in his face. I had managed to draw his face, rough with a permanent five o clock shadow; his hair was a medium brown, above his ears but I had not put color in yet. My pencil stopped when I began to draw his neck, an odd shadow beaming over my paper as if something were in my window. I turned to see If it was a little kid straying to peak into other people's houses again but no one was there. I closed my blinds locking my window feeling a little paranoid for some odd reason.

When I put my pencil back to the paper the blocked light appeared to move, which was impossible. My blinds blocked out all light, I grabbed the stapler from the desk like a ninja jumping into the corner of my room. I looked around; nothing seemed out of place, nothing except for the dark spot inside my closet. My heart was racing, I felt on edge, like one of those girls in a horror movie. I knew I would have been one of those screaming at the screen saying "RUN AWAY BITCH RUN!" But of course being the girl in the situation made it entirely different. With all this running through my mind, I had managed to sneak against the walls next to my closet, my fingers going for the round knob which would open it. Half of me wanted nothing to pop out and I could just blame the Halloween paranoia but the other half wanted the man named Demetrius to walk out In his gleaming beauty. Just as my fingers wrapped around the knob tightly, my bedroom door opened and I let out a piercing scream, falling to the floor in panic. Another scream matched mine and the crashing of a bag of candy which spilt onto the ground. Joan was dressed in her costume for that evening, a short black frilly dress that was torn across the chest with its little red sequins. I held my chest trying to catch my escaped breath. She knelt over next to me and laughed a bit.

"What on earth were you doing?" she asked me as I shoved her away playfully and crawled over to her dropped candy. I helped put it back into the pillowcase along with her.

"Nothing…just…a scary book had me a bit freaked out," I lied to her. She never believed in that fantasy sort of thing, that someone could exist and yet never be there. She would just laugh at my story and I did not have the patience to be getting angry at her. She looked around the room.

"What book, I don't see any out," she pointed out.

"You already went trick or treating? And got this much? Schools only been out like an hour," I exclaimed changing the topic quickly. She was easy to do that to, she shook her head lifting the pillow case up getting to her feet, me following suit.

"No! Mom decided she was not going to hand out candy after she bought bags and bags of it so I decided to bring it over and try to convince you to eat some!" she picked out some chocolates throwing them in my hand, I pushed them back at her.

"You know I do not like candy."

"Technically this is chocolate, not candy," she said smartly. I still shook my head and walked over sitting on my bed shutting my sketching pad but not quick enough. She picked it up looking at the man's face. "He is gorgeous, who is it?" she asked seeming extremely fascinated by the drawing.

"A guy from a dream," I shrugged and snatched it back shutting the book.

"Too bad, I would date someone like that, he really is hot." She shoved a few pieces of chocolate into my dresser as if I was not looking. "That is for when you change your mind." She went over sitting beside me. "So you coming tonight?" she nudged my shoulder with hers and a grin. She had bright blond hair but she was anything but stupid, one of the smartest in our class actually. I took in a sharp breath at her question.

"I dunno Joan, I mean you know my mother would never approve of me going to such a party," the way I said it was full of sarcasm. She grinned at that, our game began.

"You are so correct Annabelle, perhaps we should study instead. After all we are such top quality students," she got to her feet and went into my closet which nearly made me jump up but nothing and no one was in there. I relaxed a bit as she pulled out my costume from the year before. "And for this study session I require sexy costumes," she pulled me up and held the pirate wench costume up to me, it was short for sure, sexy beyond belief and entirely not my style. I had bought it because of a joke the year before and not worn it since then, it was my little dirty secret.

"You know I don't like that thing Joan, can't I just wear some torn up jeans and rip a shirt?" I asked her going through my drawers throwing the dress on my bed. She shook her head.

"Nope, rule is girls have to wear something…sexy," she smirked at the thought, she had been trying so hard for years to get me into the girly scene but to her dismay she continued to fail. "Now get dressed, I am going to sweet talk your mom." She skipped out of my room and I was forced to be by myself again. The creepy feeling instantly entered my body which gave me chills that run up my skin to my neck. I grabbed the dress throwing it on and then grabbed my pea coat from my closet; it was the only thing I had that would make it look less suspicious. Within minutes I made my way outside where Joan had obviously gotten the job done and convinced my mom to not only let me go out tonight but sleep over her house, just in case.

"At least you are getting something done today," my mother said to me kissing my cheek as I came up beside her. "Don't want you rotting away in that room of yours. You two have fun studying, let me know if you need anything!" she told us as we walked away. Joan always a bit peppier then me, each step she took was like a dance move. This was highly due to the fact that she was a dancer, class three nights a week; sometimes I went to watch if I was bored. I had a few pictures I sketched of her dancing, she loved them. Her house was a few blocks down the street which was where we would be heading first to get entirely ready.

"Annie the sun will come up tomorrrrrow!" she sang the song in her version to me from the musical Annie "Don't be sad about your black eye! Just smile and sayyy! The sun will be back tomorrow!" she turned to smile at me; I just looked at my feet unable to shake the feeling that someone was intentionally following us, following me. I kept looking back every few minutes or so but there was no one behind us except the occasional child skipping along with their parents. Finally when we got to her house I rushed to her room pretending it was a nice, but I just really wanted to be secure inside somewhere for the time being. I flopped down onto her bed and grinned.

"You are starting to get slow, Ariel is not going to like that!" I told her, Ariel was the cheerleading coach and Joan was next in line for it. She shoved me slightly going over to her closet, "Are you really changing…again? Is that costume not sexy enough for James?" I asked raising my grin a bit sitting up. She looked back at me with a bit of a friendly glare.

"You are just jealous that I have a boyfriend and you just have to continue to draw yours up." Although they were just meaningless words they did hit me slightly. I just shrugged it off.

"And you still want to bang every one of mine." I mumbled though she obviously heard it. She spent the next hour changing and getting dressed into a short black skirt, which barely covered her bum, a black leather bra similar to the one she had in her cat woman suit and to top it off she wore knee high black heeled boots. "What are you, a hoochie?" I asked her still having my jacket on.

"A hooker, but close enough," she lifted my hand up and pulled out her camera, at every chance she took pictures of herself and usually brought someone else into it. I sighed but my jacket was still on, for now. She took a few pictures before realizing it and turned around pulling my jacket off and giggled. "Who knows maybe Shawn will want to bone you so bad tonight he will leave Ariel." She snapped a picture before I could object. I groaned trying to grab the camera to delete the picture but she kept backing up looking at it, at first a smile then a confused odd expression once she hit the wall. I looked at her face; she rarely had this look on her face.

"Let me see," I said quickly, my hands planted on the wall so she couldn't escape. As she handed it over her bedroom door opened, James walked in, blonde hair with a perfect body underneath the torn up football jersey.

"Did I interrupt? Cause I can go and get my camera and come back," he smirked. Ever since he and Joan started dating he swore we were secret lesbians because we were so close.

"Just because your dick wants a show, does not make us lesbians baby," she said forgetting about the camera which had turned off in my hands. She went over wrapping her arms around his neck, his hands staying respectfully above her hips. I rolled my eyes.

"God you guys could really make someone throw up," I said going for the door "I am going to call mom and let her know we are starting our session," I winked trying to make James jealous. It worked. I grabbed my jacket and walked outside lifting my phone to my ear with it calling my mother. It began to ring as I turned to camera back on seeing the grass beneath my feet. I switched it to viewing mode as she picked up.

"Hey mom?" I asked.

"Hey hunny, how is the studying going?" She asked me, I heard a few kids in the background and Shannon's cheerful voice. She would make an amazing teen mom.

"We are about to start now, just wanted to let you know and ill text you later because her mom is not feeling so great so we are trying to keep quiet," the lie came out like the truth.

"Oh! Alright sweetheart, have fun," she whispered through the phone and we hung up. I looked back down at the camera. The picture was distorted, I actually had a smile on my lips but behind me was a dark shadow that should not have been there. The flash had been off too, so it was impossible to be there. I zoomed in on the picture; the air around my body was wavy, as if I was on fire minus the fire.

"What the hell…" I muttered, hearing the door behind me I quickly turned the camera off slipping it into my pocket. I turned around and looked at the two who were play fighting; she shoved him back against the door and came up beside me.

"This is my real date for tonight," she told him, he went over on the other side of me.

"Mine as well." He pretended to sound snooty.

"Oh fuck me," I interjected as they latched arms with me and we began to walk, but not before James could get his little comment in.

"I bet you would like that," Joan leaned over punching his arm hard.

**Chapter 2: Savior**

We had to walk to the bus stop and take the bus downtown where the party was being held. I stared outside the window for the half hour drive, the sun finally setting. It was around seven thirty now, and the party had already begun an hour ago. We got off at the nearest stop to the house, only about a five minute walk there but you could hear the music and see the flow of kids sneaking their way there. It was not the rich area of town so everyone had to be careful when around here alone. This was the place where murders and rapes usually were found, technically it was next town over but a few of the students lived around here. The house was quite obviously the one with all the lights on, kids already passed out on the grass and music roaring. Luckily there was no other house around for a while, so no pesky neighbors to call the cops. We walked up to the scene; a lot of initial whistles came out of the house towards the new group of us. I just looked down to the ground. Joan loved the attention; James went to her and pulled her against him as if saying that she was his. She just laughed pulling him inside as if I were going to just follow. Instead I walked towards the backyard to see what was going on back there. They had an empty pool becoming a skateboarding area. I used to skateboard before my mother found out and had my board broken into pieces because it was not lady like. Ever since they did that it had been impossible to get a new one without her finding it, trust me I had tried. I went over to one of the guys who I recognized from class and stood next to him, he waited to drop in.

"Hey Ray," I said with a smile looking down at his board which he instantly saw, he handed it to me.

"Want to have a go?" he asked me; just so willing to let a girl ride his skate board.

"You don't even know if I know how to do this," I told him just to point out a fact, what if I fell and broke his beautiful black board?

"You look like you know how, so shut up complaining and go or I am going to take it instead," he smirked having a beer beside his feet he picked it up taking a swig of it. I planted the board over the edge waiting for the perfect moment and I dropped in, it had been so long since I had done this but it was just like a bike, I was flying over the ground on wheels, feeling the air rush past me along with the blurs of others. After a few minutes of it I brought it back to Ray who had sat on the edge and laid back. I sat beside him putting the board on its back.

"That was amazing thank you," I said feeling my heart just flutter with excitement from the old time ride. He pulled me down unexpectedly and started to kiss me, I pushed off of him, and he just gave a weak laugh.

"You are so hot Annie, why don't you date?" he asked, obviously he had more than just that beer.

"Should have known," I got to my feet but he grabbed my wrist pulling me back down. "Let go of me Ray!" I said attempting to pull my hand free but he was oddly strong.

"If you scream, I swear I will cut your throat," he said with a smirk getting to his feet pulling me with him. A death threat definitely scared me; I just followed him hesitantly, not like I had a choice with his grip. He led me through the crowd; I saw Joan and she gave me the thumbs up obviously thinking something was happening that I consented to. I shook my head wildly as he dragged me up the stairs, my wrist starting to lose feeling from how tightly he held me. She did not catch on because she turned back to James and started tangling their tongues. I was brought up to a bedroom which had to be the masters because it was huge, king size bed candles everywhere like he had been expecting this. He locked the door and threw me onto the bed, I instantly regretted coming here, letting Joan drag me along. I covered my body best I could be in this outfit it was damn near impossible. He opened a drawer taking out a knife and sat next to me, my breathing was beyond crazy at the moment. "Calm down Annabelle," he whispered running the side of the blade down my arm, it was cold sending chills over the spots. It took a few moments but I managed to appear calm, my eyes shut. "Now…you had to know this would happen…after all you did dress up."

"Not for this," I quickly said my voice breaking.

"Well now it is," he said getting up undoing his pants slowly "Attempt to run and I will murder you." He told me, I just nodded. I would rather be tortured then killed honestly. Once his pants were undone he began to rub himself about to pull himself out but someone else apparently already in the room knocked his down to the ground. The man wore a long trench coat so from behind I could not make out any details.

"Still raping high school girls Damien?" the voice was heavy, seducing. I got to my feet not sure if I wanted to stay and thank the man or run for my life. My legs made the decision to buckle and sit back down. They began to speak in a language unknown to me. Then a snapping noise, my eyes became wide when Rays head was totally sideways, his eyes just staring at the bed. I went to scream but the other man's hand was on my mouth before I could, he knelt behind me. I felt a few tears come from my eyes as he spoke, which calmed me.

"You never saw any of this Annabelle. Not even Joan can know. Do you understand?" he asked me I just nodded quietly. His hand slid away from my mouth and before I could turn around to see him or anything he was gone, along with Ray's body. I shakily stood to my feet and walked over to the door touching the doorknob. Once I took a final look around the room I ran down the stairs to find Joan. She was grinding on James in the center of the crowd. I ran up to her trying to stay calm, she just pulled my hands to her hips and smirked.

"How was it?" she asked in my ear so I could hear her.

"I do not feel so great I think I am going to leave," I yelled back into her ear which she still just barely heard. She stopped moving on James who quickly looked down to see why. Joan took my hand pulling me towards outside leaving James with his raging boner inside.

"What happened up there? Did he…hurt you?" she asked me, her words felt distant because the music had someone deafened me.

"No, I just do not feel well that is all. It's fine if you want to stay here, but I am going to head home…" I told her with a nod, she shook her head.

"I will get James, we will all go together, and you are not walking around here by yourself." She ran off into the house and I was left alone with my thoughts, my memories. I rubbed my eyes, and caught the familiar scent of Demetrius. I turned around, too many people were around to even sort through. Joan returned moments later with a disappointed James. I apologized and he swore it was fine but I knew deep down inside he hated me at that moment. Joan stayed close with me while we walked back to the bus stop only waiting about ten minutes before it showed up. We rode back to her house in silence. Once we were back at her house I felt a calm come over my body. She gave me clothes to change into and told me she would be back in a little that she was going to walk James out. This in turn was code for they were going to her parent's room to have sex. The music turned up and I could not hear anything beside her room.

**Chapter 3: Snap Soul**

The music lulled me into a deep sleep; the dream world taking over once again.

_The music was a low toned piano playing somewhere in the distance, just barely reaching my ears. I stood in an empty meadow with a single tree filled with brown and red leaves falling to the ground that had high grasses. My feet were sinking into the ground making it impossible for me to move, I had on a knee length dress with yellow flowers covering its fabric. My hands were so pale, so small and tiny. I looked around for anything that could help pull my feet out but nothing was in grabbing distance, until a small child came walking by me as if I were not there._

_ "Child!" I yelled out, not sure why I spoke that way but the words did as they pleased. "Child, please help me," I begged of her, but she just continued walking with her honey golden hair down to her mid back. "You wretched little…!" I was down on my knees with these words, her face turning towards me. Her eyes were a deep red, I suddenly felt nauseous and angry at myself for asking her to help me. She walked over to me in her black dress that began to catch fire at the edges. _

_ "Me, wretched little what? Whore?" she asked in her childish voice, but the words were anything but. "No young child, I am not little more am I the demons slave. I work on my accord but thank you for attempting to sway me. Now die." Her finger pointed straight between my eyes. _

A swirl of sickness overtook my stomach and I was bent over the edge of Joan's bed my mouth becoming filled with puke. I got up quick as I could and ran into the bathroom letting it out. Joan was right behind me, apparently having already joined me in her bed; she rubbed my back asking if I was going to be alright. I just answered with a nod holding my hair back trying to take slow breaths. These dreams were getting worse each time. I managed to get up and back to bed sleeping without anymore dreams for the night. When I woke for the second time it was around six in the morning with an alarm going off next to me, and Joan's hand hitting it then smacking my head by accident.

"I still have a black eye Joan, that hurt," he grumbled falling out of the bed onto the floor. "Fuck my life…" I muttered and got to my feet groggily walking to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I opened the door and for a split moment saw a figure standing in front of me, no form and yet I could tell it was human. But before the small scream could come from my lips it was gone, like a shadow. I walked over to turn the water on slowly, almost afraid to be in there alone. The water hit the floor and I began to undress to take my shower. I cleaned my hair and body as quickly as possible wanting to get out of there, though part of me knew that no matter where I went at this point there was going to be this haunting, this man. I had stolen some of Joan's clothes and gotten dressed in them in the bathroom, the door opened while I dried my hair with a towel. Joan sat up on the counter looking at me.

"So you never told me what happened with Ray. I mean rumors are FLYING!" She said to me with a grin.

"How would you know, we have not even gotten to school yet." I picked up a brush to brush my hair out; it was becoming very curly as it dried. She danced her phone in front of my face and I just scowled a bit.

"People need a life," I noted as I put the brush down. She didn't move however.

"Annie! I am your best friend, tell me what happened. Did you and Ray get together or not, simple question." She said leaning forward with her hands on the edge rocking back and forth slightly.

"No, we did not get together okay? He passed out on the bed before he could get it up," I spat the words out and walked away from her. She just laughed slightly, I heard the shower water turn on. I grabbed my bag and a paper to write her a note.

_Had to leave, skipping school. Going home, still not feeling great. _

I left it on her bed and left the house before she got out of the shower starting to walk back to my house, the cold morning air hitting my face like pins and needles. I finally made it back to my house and found my bed crashing face first into my pillows. My mother came in a few minutes later sitting next to me, with some water and a piece of toast.

"I heard you were not feeling so great," she whispered. I looked up at her with the face of How on earth did she know? "Joan texted me a few minutes ago saying that you were heading home not feeling so great." She smiled at me; I took the water after I sat up drinking it with the medicine she handed me. The toast stayed on the plate as I wandered over to the dresser to get some warm pajamas, maybe this oncoming cold was just making my brain go crazy and have over stimulated dreams and thinking I saw things. I changed and got back into my bed where my mother just sat looking through my sketch pad. I hated when she did that, just invading my privacy but my head began to hurt to the point where I just not care anymore.

"Who is this?" she asked pointing at the face drawing of Demetrius.

"Just someone I thought up mom, I am going to sleep now. Can you leave?" I asked her taking the book shutting it putting it back into my bag and stowing the bag under my mattress so no one could get it while I slept. She leaned over kissing my forehead and walked out of my room. I got under the blankets; I had to get over this cold before it drove me insane.

_"Bellatri; your heart…it has stopped beating," a man's voice whispered to me, total darkness around my body, I could see nothing. "I will not bring you back," his words were slow but I could feel a sudden warm liquid sliding down my throat, my chest compressing and my bones felt like they were breaking in multiple spots. I wanted to scream so badly but __nothing was coming out, just hours and hours of what felt like utter pain coursing through my body. Would hell ever come?_

My mother came in which is what woke me from my simple but painful dream, I instantly touched my ribs which was where I had felt most of it. She looked at me with an odd expression; she had a thermometer in her hand a cup of hot tea.

"Bad dream?" she asked setting it down next to my bed as well as sitting next to me sticking the thermometer in my mouth before I could answer her. I waited until it beeped; she did a double take at it. "It must be broken" she banged it against the dresser before putting it down. "Says you're dead," she laughed. I however did not. I grabbed it; the number was only at 75.3 degrees. I instantly put it back down wrapping the blankets around my body tightly and shut my eyes.

"What if that is my real temperature?" I asked her, "Just going to say it is a mistake?" she just rolled her eyes and went over making sure my windows were shut and then went to leave my room.

"You are not dying any time soon Annabelle, do not worry about that." She shut the door and went back out, leaving me to my psychotic dreams. I could not sleep anymore after that, just staring at the ceiling for a good hour before taking out my sketching pad, remembering the man's features, more and more by the moment. Before I knew it, I had drawn down to his waist, including every wrinkle in his shirt that I could visualize inside my eyelids. My calm serenity was broken by my door flinging open and Joan jumping on me sending my book flying to the ground. I nearly choked from her tight hug.

"I am SOOO sorry! I know I totally made you leave this morning, I got you upset because I made you tell," she rambled until I pushed her off grabbing my book.

"No Joan, I was not feeling any better from last night. And you know I do not do well with telling people that I need to leave." I shut the book with a sigh and put it on the dresser seeing the thermometer there. I picked it up handing it to her, "I know it's weird but please …take your temperature." She looked at me like I was crazy but she wiped it off and stuck it in her mouth waiting for it to beep, I looked at her temperature, it read a normal degree.

"What was that about?" she asked me, I just took it putting it back on my table.

"Nothing…mom thought it was broken," I shrugged and looked down at my hands, was I really that cold?

"So, I got your homework for you since I knew you would want it," she said and I groaned. "Also got a freshman to take care of it on pro bono" she smirked. I hugged her.

"And this is why you're my best friend; I think I am feeling better now that I took some medicines." I admitted to her which made her happy.

"Feeling better enough to maybe go out and get some ice cream?" she asked with a hopeful smile. I bit my bottom lip as if debating whether or not to tell her the truth that I was getting too freaked out to even leave my room.

"Yeah. Let's go," I said weakly, giving in. I knew that If I gave into my fears now, they would haunt me for the rest of my life. We went out for the ice cream, and spent the rest of the day chatting about our lives.

The next few weeks went back to normal, no more dreams waking me in chills or shakes. No more random figures appearing in rooms where they ought not to be. I figured that while I was sick, my mind had played tricks upon me. I stepped into my house with my bag coming off being tossed onto the table where an evening sandwich was sitting. I sat down lifting it up off the plate, seeing a picture underneath of it. I took a bit into the sandwich and nearly choked when I realized what the picture was of. I was standing in the costume like I remembered but behind me was the shadow of a man, that man. I looked closer wondering why this picture was under my sandwich. As my face got closer to the picture, I felt my stomach drop slightly. It was a man's figure standing behind me in the room, but it was impossible it was only me and Joan in there at the time. I felt chills run up my back when my nose nearly touched the photo. A stiff finger poked my back; I screamed and jumped dropping the picture and turning around to see it was only Shannon who had screamed equally as well. I bent down grabbing the picture muttering a few curses under my breath as I felt my heart jumping against my ribs.

"Sorry to startle you," she began, I just shook my head saying it was fine, "but I wanted to say goodbye." It was only then that I realized she had her suitcases in her hand.

"Where are you going?" I asked her, afraid to hear her say the words I knew she was about to utter.

"Devin and I are going home; so we can begin to create the baby's room. And I was wondering although…you have been upset, would you still come over and help us? I know we can sort out everything if you stay with us for a while. The house is amazing; he had it custom built last year!" She said with a smile, I just shrugged putting the picture into my pocket.

"I suppose I could spend a few hours over there one day, just…give me the directions and I will think about it." I told her, she wrapped me up into her arms and then scurried to find paper around the kitchen, writing down about a quarter of a page of directions then handed it to me. I read over it, a few turns here and there, nothing too complicated.

"Any time okay? I am serious, midnight, three in the morning; come over," she said clearly with another hug this one nearly suffocating me. Devin walked in and laughed a bit.

"You are going to kill her with one of your hugs one day," he said, and if he and I had been on good terms I would have agreed but I just stood there looking at my feet when I saw a hand extend in front of me. He wanted a handshake from me.

"At least a goodbye handshake?" He inquired, I was hesitant but out skin touched and we shook our goodbyes. Shannon took over again with another forced hug, Devin pulling her off and grabbing the suitcases they had come with two months ago.

"I will see you soon Annie," she said with sureness in her voice before they left the house. I walked towards the door watching them; the creepy feeling in my stomach rising like it had been a few weeks ago. I spent the rest of the day doing homework, flicking through television channels and even doing a few chores around the house. It was nearly ten thirty before I finally gave up on writing a research paper and shut my laptop down. Mother came by moments later as if she knew I was about to go to bed.

"Good night sweetheart," she said quietly as she shut my door, my goodnight was mumbled under my breath as I got under my blankets and stared up at the ceiling. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep and drifting into a dream.

"_Annabelle, you know my name and now I know yours," Demetrius said as he stood in front of me, I could see every single detail in his face, his pure black eyes; the pale white skin. I reached out in front of me to feel his cheek, as if assuring myself he was true. His skin was like ice, my fingers burned from the contact. I quickly pulled them back and slid them in between my lips to warm them. He shut his eyes the moment I had touched him, a screeching noise emitting from his teeth. "Now you must also know why I haunt your dreams, you're every single move." His voice was so lulling that I could barely pay attention to his words. "Annabelle, listen closely." He reached over with a painful expression and held my face in his palms. He went to say his next words before a loud noise from the scenery around us which I had just noticed to be a field of flowers and trees, echoed in the distance. He looked over to see what it was but my eyes were glued to him. "Wake up Annabelle….wake up sweetheart…"_

"Wake up Annie!" Joan's voice echoed for a moment in my subconscious before it woke me up and sent me flying onto the floor like always. I just up, my hair like cousin it's.

"Huh, yes I am awake" that was my auto response from all the mornings of mother yelling for me to get up and go to school.

"It is just me Annie," she said from the foot of my bed. I sat back down and laid my head back with a groan.

"Is it not Saturday?" I asked in annoyance seeing that my clock only read eight in the morning.

"It is." She grinned a bit "It is also snowing!" she said with excitement.

"No way, it is only November!" I said in response going over to my window flinging it open. There was already about an inch on the ground. "How much are we supposed to get?" I asked looking over at her.

"I think they said something around fifteen inches to eighteen!" she screamed in excitement jumping up onto my bed and jumping up and down. I joined her and hugged our hands together jumping off. "And if it sticks then you know we will not have school on Monday, and hopefully Tuesday!" she said with a wide grin. This was so worth waking up for this early. "Wait that still does not explain why you are here." I realized as I sat back down on my bed.

"Well, mom and dad came back and then decided that the snow was just not their thing so they dropped me off here about an hour ago and left for Hawaii." She shrugged like it was nothing but she never really got to see her parents that much. It was sort of a shame that they did it to her because she was a good girl honestly. "So that means…." She grinned a bit as I finished her sentence.

"HOT CHOCOLATE!" We both yelled in anticipation and ran out into my kitchen where three mugs were already set out and my mother was pouring steaming hot chocolate into the mugs with special little marshmallows on top. Joan and I sat down at the counter taking some milk and cooling down the drinks.

"I cannot believe how much snow we are getting," my mother said with a slight edge in her voice which I could tell was because her precious daughter Shannon was out on her own, in her first official snow storm away from home.

"Mom, she will be fine…" I told her as I drank the mug and let it slip down my throat instantly warming me up. She just nodded and looked out of the window at the falling scene. She finally walked away to pick the phone up and call Shannon, which left Joan and I alone in the kitchen.

"Joan, can I tell you something? It is going to sound a little crazy but I am completely serious about everything." I said looking into the liquid as it moved from side to side, but before she could answer I was staring down at Demetrius face, his head shaking as if to tell me not to say a word.

"Go ahead, shoot."

"Uhm…" I hesitated on my words, instantly changing what I was going to say. "I do not think that Shawn and I are going to work out honestly…" She laughed a bit then stifled it with her hand over top of her mouth.

"Sorry…" she said but continued to laugh under her breath.

"It is fine…" I told her and just got to my feet going to turn the television on, flicking to the news channel to see the weather report.

"And now the weather with our new weatherman Raynel Flang," the camera panned over to the man, it was him…again. It was as if he was staring directly at me through my screen, his eyes directly staring into mine. I collapsed down to my knees in front of the television, mesmerized. Every word he spoke was like it seemed into my brain and stayed there for a moment before bouncing out the next ear.

"Thank you for that kind introduction Bradley, now for weather if you have not already looked outside of your windows then do it now because let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, it is snowing outside. This beautiful winter wonderland is only getting started, by noon today we can expect to be at about a foot if not more. We will keep you updated throughout the watch, stay warm folks," he winked at the screen, at me. I could not look away, until I heard Joan's voice behind me.

"Damn, that is one hot weather man," she said before flicking through the channels to put on some music. I looked up at her, she did not seem in a trance like I was, and even with his voice gone I felt like a zombie to his every whim. I finally shook it off when I heard David Cook start singing from the screen. I got up and blinked hard.

"I guess…I think he is personally sort of creepy looking," I told her trying to convince myself of those words but it was apparent that was not going well. She raised an eye at that comment and shook her head going back to her drink. I sighed and spent the rest of the day baking cookies and different treats with Joan, by noon it was well over a foot. The storm becoming bad enough to shut down stores, which meant that, no one would be leaving my house which gave me some security in my latest paranoia. By time the sun set our front door was all snowed in, my parents had snuggled up on the couch with the fire place going and the television watching some movie. Joan and I listened to some music in my room playing a game named Quelf which made us look like complete morons.

"So I guess this means you are going to be staying here for a while," I teased her a bit once we took a break from the game. My window was frosted with the cold snow; I was still able to open it without snow falling in. Once that happened then I would most likely begin to worry if we had enough food to get through this snow storm. My mother came walking down the hall opening my door.

"Alright girls we are heading to bed, sleep tight," she smiled. She always loved Joan, acting like she was another daughter of her, which was not unusual since she probably saw her more than Joan's actual parents did. We both said goodnight to her before I sat against the wall on my bed, I wanted to tell her so badly about Demetrius, about my dreams that I would have, about that night at the party. But every bone in my body knew that the moment I told her, I would be putting her in some sort of danger. We were both already in pajamas, since we never changed that morning. I had a queen sized bed so we both fit pretty comfortably on it, underneath the blankets facing each other.

"This is just like when we were little girls, sleepovers. Next is when we would tell scary stories and freak each other out, so we did not go to bed," she grinned and pulled out a flashlight she had hid under my bed, not surprising at all. I just laughed at her shaking my head because I knew I was always the one to get freaked out first, hiding under my blankets thinking that no monster could get under there. She turned out the bedroom lights entirely and flicked on the flashlights beam of light under her chin.

"There was once a man named Jared…he was a vampire of the night, creeping beneath shadows…hiding in closets…" she said eerily, my mind instantly reverting to placing Demetrius in the picture. I stared at her until she ruined the spookiness, "Until he came out that he was…into…GUYS!" She grinned dropping the flashlight making noises and laughing, it climbed over pushing her down on my bed and jumping up to turn my lights on.

"You have lost your skill it seems," I told her, she merely shrugged like it did not matter at all. She yawned and got under the blankets getting comfortable, I still stood near the light switch on the wall.

"Well I am tired now…let's go to bed so we can get up early and go sledding If we are allowed or able to get outside," she said slowly already drifting to sleep. Before I could even turn the lights out I heard her light snores begin. I walked over to my window and stared out into the street, the snow could not be less than two feet now, still coming down at a steady pace. Underneath the street lamp stood a man, in a trench coat just staring at me. I squinted trying to see who it was, but they were too far to see their face. As if I had shouted, they began to climb on top of the snow without sinking in, impossible.

**Chapter 4: Once Upon A Dream**

My body became weak, my arms felt like jello as the man approached, everything logical flying out of my mind. I opened the window, causing my room to become ice instantly, Joan shivered under the blanket but she did not wake. I watched as he casually walked over to my window; I knew who this was. It was the man who had been haunting me for so many months now I had found it odd to not see him at least once a day. The snow was now about the height of my window so he sat down pushing his legs into my room. I believed somewhat that this was a dream, but part of me knew it was the most realistic moment of my life. I backed away from him, seeing some snow fall onto my floor and his feet gently plant down like a kitten would. He was tall; probably around six foot four while I stood at five foot nine. I backed up against my wall, feeling the cold air take away my breath, or was it the man who bravely broke into my room without a single word.

"Annabelle," he spoke my name walking closer to me "You are awake this time…yet you act like you would in a dream, is there such a world in which this can exist," he inquired. His words so slow, so elegant…so entrapping and toxic. I could not answer him, not sure of the question or the answer. "Remember your last dream…I had to tell you why this is happening to you, why you have seen me so much. But I have changed my mind, instead…I will show you if you allow me the chance," his hand reached up to touch my chin, instantly my legs gave out but he caught me as if expecting that to happen. I now hung in his arms like a lovesick child, just staring up into his eyes which were the most beautiful silver I had ever seen, he looked exactly how I had drawn him. He let me find my feet again and then walked over grabbing a jacket of mine that was on my chair, he placed it around my shoulders. "Hopefully this will be warm enough to keep your heart beating," he told me. Although that may have sounded like a threat at some point, it sounded so generous right then. He walked me over to my open window. "Say goodbye to Joan, I am not sure when you two shall meet again." He climbed out of the window leaving me to myself. I finally snapped out of that trance and looked around my room, the window was shut, and no snow on the ground but my jacket was on. I ran over to the window looking outside of it. No one was there, not a single shadow or being. I growled slightly in annoyance, and took off my jacket. It had not been a dream, yet nothing added up. I got into my bed and shut my eyes, maybe these dreams would give me more answers then I wanted.

"_Why did you not say your goodbyes?" Demetrius asked me, his feet circling my body which sat in a chair in the center of a court room. I looked around before answering him._

"_Because nothing made sense, I must have been sleeping…" I went to get up but my hands were handcuffed to the chair._

"_You were wide awake Annabelle and you know it!" He yelled a bit before gaining his calm back, clearing his throat. "You must trust your instincts or I can never show you why I am here. You believe I am real deep down inside, I know you do. That is why I chose you…" his lips came closer to my ears and my eyes shut. I was not under his powers anymore, I could think clearer than ever. _

"_I do believe in you in a way, but how can I? You are just a dream, a figment of my imagination…paranoia," I explained to him with a shake of my head. _

"_This world is filled with things that most people would never believe, vampires…werewolves…fairies, everything you can possibly imagine. All those fairy tales had to come from somewhere did they not?" He touched his shoulders and the handcuffs slid off my wrists, I lifted them seeing slightly bruised red marks._

"_Then if I am sleeping now…how can I be sure you are real." _

"_Tomorrow…when you and Joan go outside she will hurt her ankle treading through the snow. If that occurs you know I am real, and I will return while your eyes are open to try again. Please believe in everything you know is real…" _

_I wanted to answer him more but my body began to twitch, odd noises came into my dream. _

"I want to be a billionaire so fucking bad!" Joan's voice screamed in my ear, I groaned and pushed her away.

"What time is it….damn," I muttered pulling the blankets over my body.

"Nine in the morning come on sleepy head get up! We have plans to go out sledding!" she said eagerly, I looked over the blankets and saw daylight peaking through my window. The snow was getting ridiculous at this point, cracking at my windows. It had to be some sort of emergency weather, they would evacuate soon…hopefully. I got up grabbing a towel from the closet and putting up a finger.

"First I need a hot shower to wake me up, I hope the pipes do not burst from the warmth," I said groggily walking into the bathroom and stripping down to my birthday outfit. I took my time in the shower, running my fingers through my hair, but it felt so odd as if someone else was standing behind me running cold hands over my skin, nothing sexual just slowly. I checked a few times but knew no one was there. When I got out I put a towel around my body and one with my hair pulled up. I stood in front of the mirror as always to do the things you did when you got out of a shower. I watched my hands then looked up into the glass and saw him standing there behind me. I did not turn around, just stared at him; I was not startled this time. I half expected him to be standing there, so I spoke.

"You are not real," I told him, or rather I told myself. I saw him put a hand on my shoulder; cold freezing…I could feel it. I pretended it was nothing, just my imagination. His fingers moved over my shoulders down my arm, I was too afraid to look down and see if the flesh was there or not. I just watched in the mirror, his hand finding mine, our fingers lacing so slowly, my heart racing. His heart, I could not hear nor feel as his chest pressed against the back of my body, he moved our connected hands across my stomach over the towel up to my heart over my breast. I could feel it all, see it all but I could not believe it all. His hand pressed against mine which pressed against the heartbeat. His lips slithering to my ear and speaking quietly.

"I am very much real, very much alive now, and very much going to prove it," his words were soft; I could feel his breath on my wet earlobe. My eyes shut and I felt my entire body melt against his, feeling the support of him behind me. He had to be there, I went to turn when the bathroom door swung open.

"What the hell are you doing in here? Masturbating?" Joan said as she grabbed her tooth brush and began brushing her teeth. My hand still over my chest, which did not help me in her theory. I dropped it and looked around, how could he disappear so quickly like that? It was just not physically possibly unless…unless my dreams were true all along.

**Chapter 5: Belief **

Our feet found the front door bundled in layers upon layers, Demetrius' prediction still running through my mind. If Joan did fall and get hurt, then I would have to believe him. Unless I was an unknown psychic which I really doubted.

"We are crazy," I mumbled and she just grinned.

"Damn straight we are, but after being a cheerleader so long you get used to being in the cold in damn near nothing so this is pretty cozy to me," she opened the door and snow instantly fell inside, we had not even bothered to dig ourselves out. My parents had stocked the house just a few days earlier so we were set for a while and both had called out until they were able to make it in. I just shook my head and began to climb up the mound, instantly sinking with each step we took.

"If I die out here, I give everything to you. If we both die out here, well anyone can have my shit," I yelled to her, it had stopped snowing a few hours earlier I guessed because stuff underneath was turning to ice. I could not tell what grass, dirt, or gravel anymore it was just all white. Joan was off ahead of me somehow managing to hop through the fluff until I heard her scream; it was like a bell ringing in my ears. I ran over quickly, hearing the front door of my house swing open and someone following me towards her. She had falling out of the mound of snow onto one of the only non snowed grounds and her ankle hit first, her entire foot was dislocated it seemed, nothing life threatening but painful indeed. I stared at it shaking my head as she grabbed at it. My father had been the one to run out with just a jacket on and nothing more. He quickly applied pressure; he had attended medical school and knew what to do.

"Do not worry Joan, you will be back on your feet once I fix it up," he assured her as she just nodded biting her bottom lip. He looked to me and then spoke again in a hushed voice. "Go get the emergency kit from the garage and bring it upstairs, and then go tell your mother to begin the casting process." He picked Joan up and trotted her back into the house after I had run ahead to tell her his directions. I stood back as Joan was sat on the couch, clothing shed to reveal the real issue. Her entire ankle seemed to be broken, a bone popping out where it should not be. I could not watch as my father snapped it back into place, sending a piercing scream through the house then sobs from Joan. It would take a little while to make the cast. I walked into my bedroom walking in circles holding my hands over my head.

"You did this, didn't you?" I yelled but not loud enough for my parents to hear, I was not sure if he could even hear me. "You made her fall, and hurt herself, fine I believe you are real damn it! What the fuck are you! Some sort of freaking vampire?" I crouched down to grab a book from under my bed, a book of creatures I had forgotten about until that moment. I flipped through pages reading short descriptions until he spoke from behind me.

"That book is not accurate," I turned and I could actually see him. He stood there in front of me, in his black trench coat which hung to the floor. His outfit all black, with chains, his face beyond pale and a scar I had never seen before just beside his one eye. I walked up to him and smacked him across the face harder than I thought I could smack. His face just turned the side, his eyes closing and his hand reaching up to grab my wrist before I could pull it away. He simply grinned at this, and then kissed the top of my hand. It burned like hell was taking over my body; I pulled away from him and cooed at my hand rubbing where his lips had touched. It was nothing as I had imagined, the feeling was just pain. He stepped closer to me, I wanted to scream but my voice was gone. "Do not fear me Annabelle, I wish you no pain…ever. I have a lot to explain to you, and you will have to understand that this is for your own safety. We must leave however; leave this house, this state, this country." He said it all in a very crisp voice which made me afraid to said no. He got down onto his knees and bowed his head towards me; I had no idea what to do until he spoke again. "Annabelle you have no reason to fear me, please do as you wish to make you believe in me again, I take any punishment you may give the damned." His eyes were at my feet, as if expecting me to lash him with my fist. Instead I felt a side of me come out towards him, compassion suddenly. I knelt down in front of him lifting his chin up.

"Believe in you…again?" I asked looking at him; he simply smiled like I had not seen before. He stood up and I was in his arms, all like my own personal sick fairy tale. He went over to my closet grabbing my warmest jacket I had in there, as I was still bundled from going out before. "What about my parents and Joan…they are going to suspect something and try to find me," I explained. He just shook his head as he found a bag and handed it to me.

"Even if they sent their best trained teams they could not find where we are going, now pack only what you need. Clothes you do not need we can get more of them where we are going." He went towards my door to check through the hall where my parents were still casting Joan. Their voices were low but I could hear their worry. "Hurry," he told me. I just grabbed my sketchpad throwing it into the bag with some pencils and I stood behind him. "That is all you need? You have not changed one bit…" he said quietly, I still had no idea what he was talking about so I gave him that confused look which he appeared to remember from some memory.

"You will understand soon," he promised as he put out his hand for me to take. I slowly, hesitantly took it and shut my eyes as he pulled me against his chest. Within a moment I felt cold air whirling past my body and my stomach doing twists and jumps. I would have opened my eyes if he had not whispered to keep them closed. I obeyed his suggestion and just kept my one cheek to his body, although he was freezing, the shirt he wore was a nice feeling compared to the whipping wind. I guessed that somehow I was flying, half expecting to wake up from a dream, but instead we stood on a deserted road somewhere without snow. It was still cold but no snow in sight, I looked around I amazement, and yet utter confusion.

"How…" I asked slowly, he just laughed a bit.

"You always did wonder how I did that when we first met," he reminisced.

"Okay, give it up. Why do you keep saying things like that? Like you knew me in some past life or something, because I remember everything from my life…my childhood, my parents…my friends," I told him as I took a step away.

"Calm down, I cannot simply tell you how things went, I must…explain and show you along the way of you remembering. " He took my hand and walked be between two rocks. I just sort of raised my eye as he stood there, reaching into a pocket and obviously pressing a button to create movement of the rocks, which moved aside revealing a very nice hidden car. A sport car of some type, I never really got into them, though if this was what I could get then I could suddenly become very interested. He walked me over to the passenger side and opened the unlocked door for me. He was suddenly this gentleman that I always imagined in my head; he was my description of my perfect man. It was almost frightening, as if someone had dove into my dreams and torn him out for me. Before I could blink he was in the driver's side starting up the car. I just did a double look at him but he was not concerned by it.

"We will go somewhere safe and then…I will show you," he pulled out of the spot between the rocks and went speeding down the road.

"Where are we exactly? Where is it that police would not find us?" I looked over, feeling too afraid to look out at the speeding trees we passed. He laughed slightly, his serious face letting up a little, he glanced over at me.

"This is not somewhere a mortal can get without the help of someone like me. This place is called Gömd Värld; it means Hidden World in Swedish. It is another dimension which was built since the start of earth so long ago, our kind has been beyond the mortals since the start, but we never progressed to help. They had to learn on their own, so we could survive off of their natural mistakes." He told me all of this but it still did not make complete sense to me and he could tell somehow but his lips never faltered from his newly grown smile. "Do not fret Annabelle, you will remember and then all of this worrying will seem like a silly dream itself." He shifted around the corners that led to a large mansion, bigger than anything I had ever seen before in my life. It had to be close to a hundred stories high if not more, my eyes were glued to the top where statues of dying angels hung over glaring down at me, they gave me the chills.

"What exactly is this place," I asked him as we pulled up to the front of the mansion, another man dressed like a chauffeur came over opening my door and helping me out, though I did not need it.

"This…this is home," he said handing the man the keys to the car. Within moments the car was gone from sight, just a faint dust of smoke in the spot where the car had sat seconds earlier. When he had said home I nearly choked from laughter, not entirely gathering the whole situation in my grasp yet. "Come inside, see everyone. They are all very…welcoming," he said each word slowly. "Your home awaits." He bowed his arm a little and allowed me to head in first, to walk into a place completely unknown to me.

**Chapter 6: Memories**

As he allowed me to walk up the ten steps to the double doors that led into the fantasy house I just kept waiting for someone to start screaming and me falling out of my bed waking up for another snow filled morning. But it never came, instead the doors opened and I walked into the largest entrance room I would probably ever see in my life. The floors were made of sparkling blue marble, statues that would cost millions without a single thought, stairs that led in circles going so far up I could not see the top. Two women dressed as servants walked across from door to door carrying fresh towels. My feet were glued down unable to comprehend that this was just his home.

"A lot of us live here, not just me," He put his arm out and placed my hand in the bend of it pulling me along towards the stairs. It took us nearly ten minutes to climb to the floor which led to his area I assumed. I waited while he pulled out a key from his pocket and pushed it into the locks curves. With a turn of its silver polish, he opened the door to another spectacular view. He walked ahead of me this time setting his trench coat over on a brass coat holder, those kinds from years ago. I spun in my spot looking at the ceilings which were painted with dark decaying images and yet there was some sort of serenity in it all. I found myself standing at the foot of the large oversized bed, my words coming out before I could control them.

"Compensating for something?" I did not regret the words but I had not expected them to just blurt out like that. I looked over at him as he walked towards me sitting down on the bed in the spot next to me. Once he was to my right I looked at my feet, I felt like a slob next to him, in such a place. As if I should have been dressed in a ball gown constantly.

"Not at all, now…" he grinned a bit at his answer "I will show you exactly why you will understand, just relax…and take it all in." He put his fingers on my temples pressing slightly, it was calming I felt like I could pass out on his bed but I fought every moment of it until he told me not to. My eyes shut automatically.

The scene played out in my head like a memory, while I watched.

"_Demetrius!" I yelled running towards him and jumped into his arms, his lips meeting mine in our embrace. "I have missed you…" The girl looked like me but…different, aged mentally but physically about the same age. She had darker hair however, almost pitch black. The scene change; Demetrius was chained against the wall in a basement, the one from my dream. I was standing in front of him; my eyes were red from crying. I wore a dress knee length, black. My hands ran against his skin as he whispered sweet goodbyes. I heard myself telling him I would never live on without him. The scene changed again, we were running from a castle of some sort, our hands together running as fast as possible glancing back as we were getting chased. The final scene changed, I was laying in the bottom of the lake, my lips blue and my hair strangling my neck. _

I snapped out of the trance he had put me in, feeling my heart jump as these memories came back, each one I remembered but somehow they did not piece together yet.

"You will figure the rest out while you stay here, I promise…" He licked his lips in thought for a moment, "When you died…I went to find a cure for your life, I could not think of living without you, I found a witch doctor who said she had a cure but it would mean losing you for years before I could gain you back. You are rightfully mortal, entirely and utterly but you are also my Annabelle, I sneaked into your mother's womb with your DNA and you were recreated, rebirth. I know it is all a lot to believe but it is the truth. And now that you are of rightful age, of the age where you appeared physically when you met your early demise…I wish to offer you this life again." His words came to a stop; I took it in as he told me to.

"And this life…let me guess; unless I am murdered then I do not die." I asked simply, and he nodded. "I hope I have more than just a few memories and a feeling off odd non belief to decide," I touched the back of my neck glancing over at him.

"You can have the next twenty years to decide if that is what you wish, although I think you would rather live the life of a young girl at this age rather than at the age of forty something." He got up and pushed open a cabinet built into the wall, pulling out two glasses and handing one to me tapping its side, it filled up with water. "If you do not feel comfortable with any of this, I can erase all memories of me, of this night…and you can go on living your old life." His words were sincere and I suddenly this overwhelming amount of belief cloud my judgment.

"No…I will stay, if you say I will remember everything and those…things you showed me in my mind which I do not know how you did that, but if I do remember then I would not want to leave here" I whispered to him, he just smiled a bit looking down.

"Well you will remember by going through some of your old routines. Like clothing to start," he went over to a small door that led to another huge bedroom, this one even more to my liking. Red draperies, deep mahogany wood. Everything felt so at home in here, a memory clicked into my head.

_I laid on my bed underneath the canopy that covered it, my fingers tracing shapes over a piece of paper that had some words written on it. The door opened and I sat up looking over to see a man walk in, Elgar was his name. He sat beside me on the bed and lifted my hand up kissing the top of it._

_ "Annabelle, I give you my blessing beyond any words. He truly loves you, and if you ever forget that…come to see me. You know I can always help you remember," his voice was soothing, like best friends would sound. _

I looked over at him one I had snapped back, asking if he had done that this time, he shook his head no.

"What did you see?" he asked me, I just walked over to the bed and sat down.

"A man named Elgar?" I questioned as my body fell into the most comfortable sheets I had ever felt before. He grinned a bit at the name and looked over at my body laying there.

"He was your best friend here, for over three hundred years you two were inseparable. He has been so eager to see you since this incident but I told him to wait. Whenever you are ready I can take you to him." He stood up walking across the room remembering why he had come in here in the first place; he opened up the closet doors which were huge. He stepped into the room named my closet and came out a moment later with a dress, I just shook my head.

"I am not really a dress person," I quickly said.

"Trust me, you made these dresses. You love them," he went over handing it to me; it was not at all light. I flipped it up to see what was underneath it; a small gun was hidden in a pouch along with a sheathed knife. I raised an eye laying it onto the sheets and suddenly could not find the words to ask any questions. He simply laughed a bit reaching over taking out the weapons, "We can always replace these later, put it on though you may get another vision." He walked over to the door that led into his room and opened it up, "Take as long as you need then come in here…I have more to show you." The door was closed after he walked through it. I stood up picking the dress up with me, it was knee length. It was simply black, with the edges laced with elegant designs. I stared at it for a good ten minutes then realized I had my phone in my pocket, I pulled it out but the screen read: Emergencies Only. I groaned and threw it on the bed, no service here. It made sense if everything Demetrius had said was true. The dress taunted me, begging to be put on. I finally gave in and stripped down to my under garments and put the dress on, it fit so perfectly, in every part of my body. I was amazed, never had I found such perfect size, then again he did say I designed it. I suddenly felt the missing of my family and friends hit as I stared into the mirror at myself, I was torn. This had always been a dream of mine, being like this…being something that was so farfetched yet real. And yet my normal life was what I missed most at that moment. I walked over in my converse with the dress back to the other room with my hands on my hips. He looked up and just laughed under his breath, a light mood? I could not help but look down and laugh as well. He got up walking over to me; he lifted my one hand while he spun me around, my feet just slid in a circle perfectly. Normally I stayed away from any type of dancing, never even gone to a school dance, and the parties I just sat there watching others. When my face had turned back to his, his mouth curled into a smile.

"You are starting to be your old self, I think it is time to re meet your best friend," he said gently letting my hand slid down to my waist. I waited for him to lead the way, my head starting to spin less, my feet starting to willingly walk at a decent pace. Demetrius made his way through the halls with me behind him and random people coming out of their hiding spots to stare at me. I wanted to question everything but I was far too eager to meet this man Elgar. We reached the end of the hall and I could feel the group of people behind me watching but did not bother turning around. Demetrius just backed up and let me step forward. "I will see you when you are ready Annabelle," he spoke to me as if I had some importance to my name. I pushed open the door and stepped in, it automatically shut behind me. The room seemed very simple, bookshelves lining the walls where there were no windows, a desk in the center with a chair that had its back to me, and a fireplace in front of it. I stepped forward a few steps wondering where I had gained this sudden confidence.

"Elgar?" I inquired looking around, only hearing the crackling of the fire until the chair turned in its spot. The man from that vision sat there in a deep red robe, fingers laced across his chest just staring at me.

"This is Elgar," he spoke very deeply, sounding very different than that of the man in my mind. ' "It is I…Annabelle," I answered back, my words becoming very intricate each time I spoke. The man's eyes lightened and looked directly at me. He pushed the chair aside walking over to me, running one finger over my arm up my neck. It was as if he were checking if I was telling the truth, his breath came to my ear spilling onto my neck as he spoke in a whisper.

"Answer me this then…even if you have been reborn, you will answer the same. Ignorance is simple…what?" I knew that answer, it was my favorite quote.

"Ignorance is simply bliss," I answered him hoping this was the answer he was looking for. The next thing I knew I was wrapped up in his arms. All this hugging was starting to make me nauseous.

"Queen Annabelle I have missed you so badly!" he exclaimed, the whole queen thing threw me off. I stepped back from him with a raised eye. "Oh gracious, they have not informed you yet, or perhaps you have declined." He looked down at his feet, his sexuality also becoming questionable in my mind but that was not the big thing right then and there.

"What are you talking about exactly?" I scratched the back of my head waiting for his response. He just shook his head.

"We can talk politics later, how has life treated you again? How does it feel to be…mortal," he asked lifting my hands up as if they were beyond fragile.

"I…it feels normal to me? You're freezing cold, and life has not treated me with dignity. If this was my life before, I downgraded many levels. This here is just so amazing, everyone here is like elegance, royal. While me…I feel like the bottom of the chain," he quickly shook his head at this and squeezed my hands.

"You are the top of the chain Annabelle, remember that. How much have you begun to remember anyway?" He brought me over to one of the bookshelves while I explained a few of the memories I had seen. He pulled out a book with pictures from far long ago, he began flipping through pages until he stopped and I saw myself, with the different hair sitting on a throne next to Demetrius. He handed me the book and I just stared down at it, I had on a crown and a long dress that was covered with a black thick cape. I flipped the page, only to see more pictures like this. I handed him back the book in awe over them.

"I am not queen material anymore, is that why you have all brought me back?" I asked quickly backing away feeling my panic begin to rise.

"Annabelle, you were…the best queen that we ever had, you created peace and longing to live here in our world which is damn near impossible. Please do not stray so quickly, just think about coming back to this world. You have the most loyal followers, and the most loving husband…King anyone could ask for." He opened the book to another picture, one of Demetrius kissing the top of my hand, we both looked so young. Nothing how mortal kings and queens appeared in their pictures, we looked like high school children playing Romeo and Juliet. I shook my head in disbelief, his hand finding my shoulder.

"Elgar, you must be mistaken. You must all be mistaken, that girl may have a resemblance to me but she is not me. I am sorry for letting you guys drag me this far. He just shook his head with a light laugh.

"If I can show you every memory of your past life, will you believe me?" He asked stepping closer to me now that I had turned around to look at him.

"And how do I know these are one of my past lives, and not just that of a woman whom you called queen?"

"Because I will be extracting them from your subconscious soul, only you possess such memories, you will know things that even I do not know. Things that would be impossible for me to show you, your time in the shower for example," he winked playfully. He was much less fearful then Demetrius had been. I put a hand on his shoulder as his withdrew from my body and nodded.

"Try your magic trick, I will only believe you when I see such a thing occur," I did not really believe that he would be able to show me things like that, still half convinced that I was just in some weird nightmare that did not seem to end. He lifted the hand from his shoulder and let it fall down to my side. He then walked over to his desk he had been sitting at and clicked a button that was under the first drawer. The rooms lights dimmed and the flames in the fireplace seemed to brighten.

"It is easier for a mortal to remember with less light," he noted as his fingers came to my temples and his eyes shut. I mimicked the eyes, instantly feeling slight pressure against my skin. The rushing feeling again like when Demetrius had done it, but this time it felt much more intense. So many memories flashed, my head felt ready to burst. In a matter of seconds I had remembered things that I never thought existed, some of the things I had dreamt about, some I had written about, others never had I imagined. I stumbled back from him and grabbed my skull which felt like it could split open and every ounce of my brain would spill on to the ground in front of Elgar.

"That was your life," he whispered kneeling in front of me with a glass of water which I instantly took.

"You are right, that WAS my life. It is not anymore…and forgive me for saying this but perhaps I changed back to mortal for a reason," my words made sense this time; speaking of mortality like it were just a lifestyle. He frowned at my response pulling me up to my feet. "May I saw one more thing?" I asked as my mind filtered through some of the memories with him in it. He always seemed very caring, very close to me it seemed. "From what I remember, if it is not too bold to say…do you love me?" I tilted my head, this confidence bursting out of nowhere! He quickly cleared his throat scratching the back of his head shaking it.

"Annabelle you are like a young sister," he answered instantly, a sign of lying. I just eyed him; I had to believe what he said. I walked over laying my head against his chest and shutting my eyes. He felt like a big brother for sure, cuddly and soft, yet safe. His arms wrapped around me, although his skin was cold, I barely noticed it anymore. "Now you know everything, the choice is up to you. If you deny the title we will be forced to seek out a new one. We could end up in ruins if she does not have the powers like you did," he lifted my chin backing up. I just nodded at him and walked to the door.

"Give me some time; a few more days would not hurt since you guys have gone seventeen years already," I pushed open the door and walked out into the hall where Demetrius stood like stone.

"Ready to take your throne?" he inquired. I put my hands on my hips in the dress.

"I am ready for a nap," I pushed past him, I knew I could control him to my every whim, many memories of that.

"So you remember now eh? Well both of us have changed somewhat, I am not such a push over anymore," he grabbed my wrist pulling me back and looking into my eyes. His lip curled up into a small smile. "Yet your eyes still get me every time." He whispered looking like he wanted to kiss me but let me go. My heart pounded, I had wanted him to kiss me but even with the memories, I did not physically know this man anymore. He led me to his room and walked over to the bed, I nearly ran to it falling face first into the sheets. "I will wake you in a few hours time," he informed me before leaving the bedroom. I shut my eyes and before I could even get under the blankets I was passed out.

**Chapter 7: To Rule Or Not To Rule**

When I woke up, I was laying in my own bed at home. The sky outside was pitch black and my house had a quiet murmur to it. I yawned stretching my arms and looking over to see my door cracked open. Had everything really been a dream? When had I fallen asleep? I got up seeing that I was in my pajamas, not a dress. I walked out into the living room where my parents had set up what looked like a hospital room, a small cot that Joan was resting on and a tall table that had a mug with some gauze band aids on top. I ran over wrapping my arm around her, even if it was just a dream I had missed her so badly. She must have been sleeping because she left out a muffled scream against me at first, and then became quiet when she realized it was me.

"Are you okay?" she asked me, I just clung onto her as if I was afraid to let go. My mother walked out having heard the noise. She was in her night snuggie; I glanced over then ran to her and wrapped my arms around her neck which woke her up.

"Annie? What is wrong with you," she asked groggily. I just looked at her with the biggest smile ever and hugged her tighter. "Did you hit your head again? I really need to get you to be more careful," she said touching my forehead which was sore. I just stepped back taking In a deep breath.

"Just happy to see my favorite people again, I feel like it has been so long!" I exclaimed which I immediately wish I had not said out loud.

"It has only been about two hours since you saw me, then you passed out from all the blood," Joan explained, I did not remember passing out at all. I just went along with whatever they said at that moment.

"Well that was one really weird dream I went through then," I laughed. The two of them were just at a loss of words as they stared at me. I went into the kitchen grabbing a mug while humming slightly to myself, I was so glad to be awake. These dreams were getting beyond real, and I was not ready to tell anyone about them. They would send me to some psychiatric hospital if I did. I made some hot tea to hopefully calm my nerves and laid on the couch out by Joan. She had fallen back asleep, her leg just scrapped up and a little twisted. A few days in bed would fix her up just fine my mother had said. The snow was still beyond anything we had seen ever, and it was starting to become ice underneath. I slept without dreams for the edge, although all the memories that the man Elgar in my dream had left still lingered in my head. When I woke up I was still thankfully in my living room, the smell of fresh bacon going through my nostrils. I sat up and jerked my head up seeing the familiar scene of Joan sitting up flicking through channels and my parents standing next to each other in front of the stove flirting happily.

"Look who decided they were going to wake up and not sleep their entire life away, sometimes I wonder if you enjoy your dreams more than real life," Joan grinned at me. I just glared at her playfully before getting up and walking into the bathroom to brush my teeth as I always did. I turned the water on in the sink before looking up at my reflection, Demetrius stood behind me. I jumped, my breath catching in my throat making it impossible for me to scream. I turned around and he was physically standing there. No way, was I still dreaming? This was becoming to the point where I could not distinguish! Maybe I did belong in a crazy person hospital.

"Shhh," he said putting a finger to his lips, "I brought you home, I knew you missed them. If you wish to stay here for a while before you make your decision I entirely understand. If you need me…just rub your thumb over this gem," he handed me an amethyst crystal the size of a table tennis ball. It was smooth beyond belief and definitely real. I looked at him and nodded, putting the gem into my pocket hoping it did not fall out. He lifted my free hand and kissed the top of it softly, I just could not stop smiling, my head starting to feel like it was floating. "I hope to kiss you again one day, and it mean every ounce of what we used to have." He told me before I heard the bathroom door open the moment I looked away I felt his hand slip away from mine and he was gone.

"Are you talking to yourself?" My mother asked me as she stared at me, my hand in mid air still. I quickly put it to my side and cleared my throat.

"No sorry. I will be out in a minute," I turned back to the sink picking up my tooth brush and cleaned my teeth, although I could do it in about a half hour after I ate. She let the door shut, and I could hear her mumbling some concern about my mentality to my father, how she had been catching me speaking to myself often lately and how I never seemed focus anymore. I spit out the toothpaste and rubbed my eyes looking at the mirror, my eyes looked different, lighter. They looked, and I hated to admit this, but they looked less stressed. I walked out into the living room, having lost my hunger after hearing the concern from my mother's lips. I sat stubbornly on the couch watching the channels flick from one to another to another. Joan must have been able to feel my frustration because she threw a pillow at me and then the remote.

"I cannot find anything remotely interesting to watch on television, you choose!" she smiled; I just nodded without expression and instantly turned on the channel that would be playing some detective show. I put the remote down and rubbed my head, it was pounding and I was not sure from which part of this lovely morning it was from. "Annie…"

"_Annie…? Annabelle, I need your opinion;" Elgar said to me as he stood in front of me with two different suits in hand, one black one dark blue. He held each one up to his body, "I want tonight to be perfect for you and I will not ruin it in any way possible…" I saw my finger point at the black one and my voice begin to speak._

_ "There is no possible way for you to mess this up Elgar, Demetrius will be thrilled you have gone to such lengths to prepare such a beautiful wedding for us. I love it already, and I love you Elgar, you are fantastic." He just smiled at the words, letting the suit drop walking over to me; he lifted me to my feet._

_ "Annabelle, I…" he was about to say something but the door opened and three other girls came in pushing us apart. One gave almost a suspicious look; he just played it off and smiled walking away. "See you when you're married;" he said leaving the room. _

"Sleeping again?" Joan yelled, I shook my head and opened my eyes far too quickly.

"Just a nap, I swear…what! The snow has locked us in; your leg is bummed, what else is there left to do?" I asked a bit agitated. I hated being cooped inside a house forcefully for too long, especially like this. I rubbed my eyes hard enough to make spots appear in front of me for a few moments. I scratched the back of my head before getting up and looking outside of the window, the sun was attempting to peak through. I chanted low under my breath that he could do it, to melt all the snow away and let me go for a nice walk down the street. How simple my request sounded and yet how impossible I knew it was at that moment. The rest of the day was just as boring as the morning had been; Joan slept a lot of it since my father had given some medicine for the pain in her leg. My parents just sat on the couch with their warm mugs in hand and watched shows that bored me to tears.

I sat on my bed pulling out the gem looking over it, the cuts were so perfect on each edge, I did not know much but I knew enough to know that this was a very important gem to them. My thumb ran over the smooth surface, partly to summon Demetrius, partly as an accident. But it was done, he should have shown up but when he did not I just sighed and laid back on my bed in slight anger.

"Just rub the stone," I mocked in a high pitched voice.

"I sound nothing like that," he answered from across the room climbing into my room from the window like the other night. I quickly sat up to see this and looked at my feet, so it had worked. "Forgive me Queen Annabelle for not being here in a split moment, I had not expected you to beckon so soon after." He brushed off some of the snow on his pant legs and walked over to me pulling me to my feet. "You plan on going in your….sleepwear?" he asked looking over my body. I blushed shaking my head.

"No! I will uhm…change!" I answered going over to my dresser finding clean jeans and a black long sleeve shirt with a purple sweater to go over top. I left the room going into the bathroom slightly excited to be leaving this house, whether or not I was dreaming, I was escaping. I got dressed and back into my room without my parents noticing anything. He sat on the bed looking through some of my drawings…the ones of him! My face instantly flushed to nearly transparent as I put my pajamas in the hamper I had in the corner. I went over and took the book away from him as his lips held a smug grin.

"You never did forget me, did you" He questioned me as he went over getting my thick jacket and placing it around my shoulders. I did not really have an answer for him, not that he would be happy with it anyway.

"Let's just got, I am sick of being here. Tell me one thing though," he led me towards the window waiting for me to speak again. "Is this all a dream again?" I looked up at him and he smiled down at me.

"No, but if it were a dream…this would be one epic dream, correct?" he smirked and we were gone from my room. My body pressed against his with the whirlwind of air suffocating my lungs. This time we were instantly inside of his room in the gigantic castle. My body collapsed against his arms, my feet not too ready to land just yet. He sat me on the bed, "It takes a while for a mortal to get the hang of flying. Sometimes they never get over the nausea feeling." He noted with a matter of fact voice. I just shook my head and took in a deep breath which settled all the feelings of throwing up. "So, may I assume you will be resuming your post as Queen, Annabelle?" he asked hopefully.

"It certainly does….not," I attached the not quickly which brought on a sudden sigh from him. "I wanted to look over this place for a short while before I made my decision, since someone brought me home before I requested to be."

"Forgive me; I believed that was what you had wanted. I just shrugged like it was nothing and got to my feet cautiously. He got up to his matching my steps to the door, his hand finding the knob before I could even move mine. He held the door open for me bowing his hand a bit, for a king he was very obedient to me. I saw Elgar walking towards me in the hall, but his eyes were set on the ground, not even recognizing me as he went to pass under he stood directly in front of me. His head snapped up and looked in my direction.

"You have returned! Oh thank the heavens, our queen has returned and we will restore all to peace!" he said wrapping his arms around me, I wanted so badly to let him enjoy his moment but knew it was wrong to let someone believe a lie.

"Not quite yet Elgar, I must consider all the possibly before returning to her…" I said as he pulled away, I wanted to talk to him about that one dream vision I had, "May we speak in private?" I inquired; Demetrius did not seem bothered by the request. Elgar just put out an arm and latched our elbows together. We walked down a few halls until we were back in the office from the night before.

"What is it you wish to speak of?" he asked slightly sad sounding now, obviously from my recent rejection.

"I dreamt earlier, well it was a memory masqueraded as a dream… "I tried to explain, he raised an eye. "Point is, it was about the day of my wedding to Demetrius I assumed and…you were in the room with me before hand, picking out your suit color…" I laughed a bit to myself "And you were about to say something before some of the girls came in, I was wondering if you remembered what you were going to say," his expression became like stone. He just stood to his feet and shook his head.

"Probably that I wished you the greatest love in the world with him and that you would make the worlds most beautiful, most intelligent queen ever. That is all, nothing more." He made that very clear, his words slightly harsh. I looked to my feet understanding instantly that he knew what I was getting at and that was not what he had meant to say. Although in the memory I could have sworn that he was about to tell me he loved me or something. "Now what can we do to convince you to come back here and take your rightful spot?" He pleaded somewhat with me; I looked to my feet unsure of what to even tell him. "We are willing to do anything for you Queen Annabelle, Annie." He added the last bit when I had twisted my lips.

"Anything?" I squinted my eyes a bit as he nodded. "Even, exposing yourselves?" I tested the waters.

"You know we cannot do such a thing Annie," he answered looking away from me. His head became bowed towards the floor.

"Then you would not do anything for me, I am not pleased with this answer," I told him stubbornly crossing my arms. He walked over to the single window that was near the fireplace.

"Annie, if exposing my truth personally would bring you back, then I will. But know that the moment I let a mortal unknowing to us see who I am then I am condemned to instant final death." His words lashed out a little towards me, his fingers crawling along the edge of the window. Then finally after a few minutes of silence he repented with words of being sorry. "It just upsets me that the one queen who ruled for over two hundred years left us unwillingly and now will not come back." He ran a final finger over the ledge and turned to face me, I had kept my distance.

"This is all real…is it not? If it is real then you could have searched for a queen long ago when I first died." My fingers inched towards the door, not feeling secure anymore. He saw this and quickly put a finger up the door sounded and locked. I quickly grasped it but was not quick enough. I slipped into the corner of the room trying to hide. I suddenly felt uneasy about this entire situation, wishing to be back in my safe boring snowed in home. I shut my eyes and muttered words under my breath, some like I am sorry, and others like myself wish I was home. He reached for my wrist, seeming so fragile about each touch he went to make but I flinched away.

"Annie, I will show everyone who I am. And I will die for you, for our world." He walked away opening the door and walking down the hall where Demetrius had been standing. He quickly rushed in feeling the odd emotions running between us.

"What did he just say if I may ask?" he inquired watching as Elgar walked away with a purpose. I just stared at him, almost in awe and an odd flutter in my heart. He was ready to get himself killed …for me. I quickly pushed Demetrius aside and went after Elgar yelling his name loudly but he ignored me.

**Chapter 8: Was it all just a Dream?**

"We believe she has lost all motor functions at this point and she has lost most brain functions as well," I heard a voice, it was unfamiliar. I wanted to yell out, to tell them that I was alive that I could hear them speaking. A few sobs came from the left side of me; I could feel a light squeeze on my hand. "I know this may be tough to hear but…we believe it may be best to take her off life support," the man said, my heart began to jump or so I thought. I tried to squeeze her hand back nothing was happening, my body refused to cooperate.

"We need …some time….to think about it," my mother's voice echoed through my head, I could see nothing but blackness surrounding me, like I was trapped. I screamed and screamed as loud as I could but no one could hear me. The man left the room, I could hear the door shut before a conversation began to commence.

"Marie, you know she is already gone, her body Is just…laying there taunting us. Let us put her to rest," my father said. I could not believe it; he was ready to just let me go like that?

"I understand George but…she is my baby girl, my little girl…I cannot just let her die in front of me yet," she told him. I was slightly relieved although I was not sure why, I still could not move or help tell them I was alive still.

"Marie…you are only hurting her more by keeping her in this hospital bed, honey…I miss her already and I wish I had found her sooner but…we did not. So we must accept what has happened and let her go to heaven where she belongs." My father's words jolted my heart; I felt tears on my face, not sure if they could see them. Apparently they could because my mother's tears choked up and she began yelling for the nurses and doctors who rushed in. I had no idea how many were in there, but I knew it was crowded because someone told my parents to wait outside. I could feel shocks being sent through my body, needles running through my veins and tubes being shoved down my throat. All before I blacked out, I do not know how long this black out lasted but when I opened my eyes and came around I could see countless balloons and cards sitting all around me. My eyes took a minute to adjust to the bright lightning that sat in the ceiling, my finger twitched and I could feel my mother's hand beside mine. She looked up and realized I was awake instantly, her body hovering over mine to suffocate me with one of those hugs. She pulled back cradling my cheeks in her hands, speaking ever so quietly.

"Annabelle….Annie, honey…Oh my…" her eyes welled up with happiness, "We missed you so much, daddy will be right back I promise…" She told me but as I looked up at her, I realized something; this woman was not my mother, not the one I remembered at least. Not the woman who had made me hot chocolate on cold days or the one to cut off the edges on my sandwiches, this woman was a stranger. She had odd eyes, green as the grass and hair as light as summer lilies.

"Who…are you?" I asked slowly, although I knew she what she would answer, she had the voice of my mother but not the face of her. I glanced over when I heard the door open and a man walk in. The woman masking as my mother stood up wrapping her arms around herself sobbing quietly. "Who are you people?" I asked a bit frantic now; this man was not my father either. He looked old and withered, with almost gray hair, his body not lean like it had been but covered with chunks of fat. I felt unsafe suddenly, these strangers calling my name, crying like they cared. My heart began to race, the machines next to me began to go off like sirens, and I heard codes being called out on radios outside my room. Doctors began running in, this time I could see them. Had I finally begun to die and lose my mind? Were my eyes lying to me, why could I not see what I had wanted to see for so long now? My breathing became uncontrollable and I felt my head become dizzy and woozy all together. I looked up at the doctor, it was Demetrius, I gasped at him grabbing at his face but he kept calm like a doctor would except for one moment, he smiled at me. Then it was gone, I felt like nothing made sense anymore, who was I? Were any of those days real, the snow storm, the nightmares, and the alternate world? How else would I recognize Demetrius? They got me calmed down eventually, Demetrius sitting by my side after noticing that it was him that had calmed me. He was the only familiar face so far since I had woken up.

"So, Annabelle…" he said slowly as I sat in the bed my head tilted towards him, "You do not recognize those people out there? Your parents…" he pointed through the glass at the two people who had still not moved, and were not permitted in. I shook my head, before returning my stare at him. "I see. Do you remember how you got in the hospital? And when?" He asked me, I honestly do not even remember the last time I was awake before being in here and I told him that. He bit down on his bottom lip, "What exactly do you remember?" My eyes flicked from my hands on the bed up to his lips. Even though in my nonexistent dream I had felt a twinge towards Elgar, right now Demetrius lips looked beyond kissable. It took me a moment to function again and take in his words, processing them and laughing a little.

"I do not have a clue what was real, if any of it was real…" I began and told him the story from the moment I got my black eye to the moment where Elgar went to save his world to get me back. Now when I had told it, I may have left out a few details but he got the most of it hopefully. He listened intently, those eyes of his just wrapped me up and brought me to a safe world where I had never been before, a place better then earth, better then the world where I was queen, a world where I was someone more than that. All until he stood up ruffling my hair a little telling me that I would be alright and he would be back in just a minute. I saw him walk out talking to the imposters, which angered me inside. They were pretending and he was still feeding them Intel! I kept my cool this time, however my imagination was ripping out the tubes that were feeding into my thin arms and I was tearing across the room with a knife in my fingers spinning it until I got to their hearts slicing their chests open. Oh, my lovely thoughts, so dark and demanding, also impossible. Where had they come from? I never really had those sorts of thoughts before, or had I? Maybe I had lost my memory in some freak accident that would explain a lot actually. I sat there idling about the different possibilities, car accident, bear mauling, plane crash, or even me attempting to save a young child from a shooting! I laughed a bit at that last one as it drifted across my mind. Demetrius had come back in and sat back down beside me.

"Now, Annabelle I am about to tell you what really happened, if you are ready," it was as if he were warning me for some epic story, I was ready. I wanted to hear exactly how I had managed to lose all thoughts and memories of myself. I wanted a clue as to who I really was. I nodded quickly and leaned forward a little, anxious. "You fell down some stairs which exposed an underlying problem in your brain; it caused you to slip into a deep coma for nearly three years now. You were fourteen when it occurred," he explained. My jaw dropped instantly, I had slipped? That was all I had done to get here! I was outraged, nothing spectacular or even gory about that story. I laid back looking at the ceiling not in astonishment but almost disappointment in myself. "We took the tumor out but the moment we had done that, everything of yours shut down. Your parents were actually about to consider taking you off life support when you came back, as if you knew." He put a finger to his lips in thought as I just laughed.

"That is so like me," I said out loud with another laugh and a shake of my head. "Well, I am all better now so let me go, I have to go see my best friend and get back to my miserable life," I said going for those tubes now. At least let me have a triumphed leave would have been nice but of course not.

"We will be keeping you here at least another week, to monitor you until we deem you healthy enough to leave, no exceptions." He got to his feet, "By the way…in that little coma dream of yours, you said I was…king?" He raised an eye; it made me grin a little.

"And I was queen, so in term that made us married, how old are you again?" I asked. He still looked very young to me. I was surprised he could make such a comment to someone in my position.

"Twenty four keep this conversation our little secret though, okay?" he winked with a smile before walking out of the room and telling the people who I had to accept were indeed my parents, in. They both ran to me wrapping their arms around me like one big happy fucking family. I just groaned mentally and smiled physically.

"I am so glad you are back to somewhat normal sweetheart, we will have Eddie come over in a little bit, the doctor said you wanted to see him," the woman told me. I still would not call her mother, not until I remember falling out of that hole between her legs, and maybe taping the hole under her eyes.

"Who is Eddie? I asked for Joan," I said shaking my head at them forcing them to stand and back up a little bit. They looked at each other confused, I was a lot more confused than they were so why were their eyebrows dug so deep?

"Eddie is your best friend...who is this…Joan?" she asked, the way she handled herself was so different from my real mother, the one I most recently remembered at least.

"That is not funny, and it just proves you are not who you say you are, Joan Stegman, my best friend. She lives down the street and I have known her since I was like five years old, she is a cheerleader you know…that Joan."

"Little Joan? Sweetheart, we have not seen that girl since we moved away," her and the man laughed a little at this, I just looked down at my hands they were so white, like I had no blood left in my veins.

"Moved?"

"The doctor said you may need some stories re told and your life repaired together…" the man said out loud as the woman finished his thoughts.

"We moved to New York when you were about six years old, you have not seen little Joan since then, oh wait no since we visited there when you were about…twelve. She was not a cheerleader but I remember she did just get out of juvenile detention. She did not go down the right path, I am somewhat happy that we got you away from such a bad influence." She said nodding to herself going to find a seat next to me, lifting my hand up and holding it. I would have pulled away but the warmth was so inviting that I could not push it away. My body felt so cold when it was by itself, even under the blankets it felt like ice. But her words were stabbing me over and over again; Joan and I were not best friends anymore? She went down…the wrong path? What could that possibly mean?

"Well can someone please get her here…do whatever it may take?" I tried, I did not care if she did not remember, and my dreams had to mean something. They just went silent shaking their heads.

"That is just not possible Annabelle, do not worry Eddie is going to be here soon, he will clear everything up. You will remember him, after all he secretly loves you to death," she winked with a smile. I just looked at her oddly. They let me rest finally for about an hour before she secretly picked up her cell phone since she was not supposed to have it in.

"Eddie?" she answered, someone answered back with the conversation. "Yes she is still awake, but hurry! She needs you honey…" she hung up the phone after their response. All I could think about was the fact every time I wanted something, needed something, either it did not exist at all or it ended a long time ago. It was slightly aggravating, like I was stuck in a world I did not recognize, it was more odd then the world Demetrius had brought me to. The door opened about twenty minutes later, I half heartedly did not want to look up because I knew it would not be the girl I wanted to see. But when I did I nearly stopped breathing. Eddie….was Elgar from my coma. I clenched at the sheets underneath the top layer as he came closer, he still, like Demetrius had also, looked white and pale as ever. His hair was a little ruffled up top from the wind or something I supposed but he looked more beautiful then I had ever seen him before. He sat on the bed beside me and reached for my hand kissing the top of it, making the woman beside me coo in excitement. I shot a glare at her and she grabbed the man's hand leaving the room. The blinds were shut for now thank goodness, some privacy without them felt amazing.

"Annabelle, do you remember me?" he asked, he had that accent from my coma which I had not noticed before; he was from England for sure.

"Elgar," I muttered unable to look away. Any feelings that coursed through me with Demetrius were now history again. He just smiled a little pushing hair away from my face.

"It has been a while Queen Annabelle," he told me then took my hand placing it over his heart it was beating quite fast. "I did what you requested…I died. And then I became reincarnated again through the help of some friends, though we sped up the process while you slept. Are you satisfied?" My fingers groped at his skin a little as I stared at him, maybe it was the fact that I had just woken up from three years of almost no physical action or maybe it was just him but my heart pounded so hard and butterflies were becoming at full capacity In my stomach.

"At my wedding…you were about to tell me you-"I was cut off by the door opening up. Demetrius walked inside locking the doorknob.

"Elgar."

"Demetrius" they acknowledged each other.

"I see you are beginning to see that what you dreamt was indeed real, it actually happened when you were fourteen. And now that you are awake, we must once again rush to the question of will you take throne." He was very pushy with his words, eager almost. Elgar however just sat rubbing a thumb over my hand soothingly. I stared between the two, seeing small flashbacks of memories of when I was young and with them; everything did begin to make sense now. I leaned over to the machine and shut it off.

"Nothing here is real anymore, the only thing that makes sense to me is you two. Please take me to where I understand everything." I put my hand in the center of them with my eyes leaning more towards Elgar but Demetrius snapped up my hand pulling me to my feet. Before I knew it, he had been planting a very passionate kiss on my lips, I could not pull away, it was intoxicating to me, but inside I knew I was doing something wrong.

"Well, first we must bring you back to your original state. And it is a very simple process, simply giving you some of your blood from your original life." Elgar interrupted as I was set down to sit next to him. He pulled out a small vile from his pocket, filled with the red liquid that was quite obviously blood. I stared at it, my stomach twisted up into knots.

"We drink blood?" I asked not sure of my answer now. Demetrius and Elgar laughed as Demetrius pulled out a needle poking through the top of the vile and extracting the blood then lifted my arm injecting it into my blood stream. My free hand reached for Elgar's who instantly grabbed on to support my new weight that came upon him once the blood was in my system. I felt my body fall limp against him; quickly in moments I saw everything that was real. The life before, my rebirth, meeting Joan, moving and leaving her. Then when I was fourteen I met my old life again, but before I could return I fell into a deep coma. I saw my body just laying there for years, and then I snapped back. I could feel everything be a little bit brighter, each time something moved I could see it. Even through the closed blinds I saw my parents who I now recognized at the ones who gave me life a second time, moving and pacing in front of the windows. I could smell things that I never knew had scents before; I lifted my head seeing that I was laying in Elgar's lap. Demetrius was not in the room right then, I quickly sat up faster that I thought I could.

"What…" my questions were beyond coming out of my mouth they were stuck in my throat but that was not a problem because he already had an answer.

"We are very much like a vampire and a demon creation, yet our hearts still beat and we still can walk in plain sunlight at times. There are days when it is too bright and we hide from it. We are called the…Delagands. Many pure breeds envy us and therefore hate us but we attempt to stay neutral. You did well as keeping that going, lately we have been siding with demons on many topics and creating waves of hatred from the vampires." The moment his words ended the door opened again and my parents came inside with yet again hugs.

"We are so happy that you remember us now, do not worry we are not mad that you forgot, after all you got very hurt…we will take you home and we will get you a lot of rest," my mother told me.

"Yes, come on Annie, I will stay if that is alright with your parents," Elgar said now sounding very normal to them.

"Of course you can stay Eddie," my father told him.

"We are discharging you now Annabelle, be safe," Demetrius said from the door with a sort of stare that I instantly knew that he would be in touch shortly after. It only took about half an hour for the papers to be signed and me in a wheelchair which was entirely unnecessary, to get out to a top notch car.

"We only brought our car, so please let her ride with you Eddie?" my mother said as they walked away, Elgar took my hand lifting me from the chair and walked me over to his car, it was nothing spectacular, just some normal car. I still apparently had no interest in them, whatsoever. As we drove I touched things feeling every bump and grain that it had to offer. He was amused by these actions and often would chuckle quietly.

"Thank you for driving me, even though those people are my birth parents I cannot stand them already," I told him looking around I had no idea about the streets yet but as I saw names things began to revive in my memory. Once I saw the car in front of us pull into a large home I got lost in its windows. "This is where…I live?" I raised an eye as he told me yes. "This is huge."

"Nothing compared to where you are going to be living Annabelle," he noted with truth. I laughed a little and opened my door; Elgar was by my side in less than a blinking moment. I was starting to get used to it however so it did not entirely freak me out. They took me inside; everything was elegant, touch of china here, dash of the English there. Elgar took me up to my room telling my parents that he would take good care of me. Once upstairs in the bedroom I called mine, I fell onto a large canopy bed with stuffed animals on top. It felt nice to just be on a bed that did not belong in a hospital room. He sat beside me quietly letting me get a few moments of relaxing in before he broke the silence.

"We cannot stay long, we already have your items back home and we will need to leave when you are ready so you may reclaim your throne immediately." I sat up looking at him and nodded, I got to my feet feeling superiority course suddenly through my veins.

"I need to do one thing before I go back it may take a day or two," I explained. He tilted his head unable to think of what it could possibly be.

"Joan."

**Chapter 9: Joan**

"Two days at max please, we severely need your hand in our hearts again, will you need help finding her?" He asked me, I just shrugged.

"Best thing might be for you to come with me on this one yet, have no exactly acclimated to everything yet" I said truthfully finding a small bag in the closet full of elegant girly clothes, absolutely not what I remember. I put a few pieces of clothing into it just for the day or two, not knowing what would happen when I went to see Joan. I heard a soft knock on my door which made me drop the bag into the closet and jumped over onto the bed lying down. "Yes?" I said out loud as the door opened up and my mother came in with two mugs of hot tea. She sat it down on the small end table next to my bed. Elgar had sat down at the foot of my bed.

"Will you two need anything else?" she asked, Elgar just shook her head.

"No, but thank you for allowing me to stay here and help, you never know when something may happen, correct?" This made her smile for some odd reason, I just sat up and took the tea into my hands, and it was so warm against my skin.

"That is right Eddie, I love you two, see you at dinner," she said as she shut the door. Something in the pit of my stomach made me feel slightly guilty for hurting them like this, but it was my life. I had to go on with it the way I wanted. Once the door was completely shut and I could hear her walk down the stairs I jumped back up going to the closet finishing the small packing. Elgar had come up behind me, putting a hand on my right shoulder. I turned and faced him, feeling a little lightheaded when I stared up into his eyes.

"Yes?" I tilted my head to the side a little; he just shook his head asking if I was ready yet. "Yeah, I will be ready as soon as I use the bathroom," I told him throwing the bag on my bed and walking into the personal bathroom that was attached to my room. Inside it was full of marble, beyond beautiful; everything cleaned and ready to use. I just used the sink leaning over it with my elbows on the cold counter turning the water on. I bowed my head a little against my wrist and then threw some water over my skin. I finally made my way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom again where Elgar still sat on the bed now. He grabbed my bag and went over to the window opening it up.

"What is it with you guys and escaping from windows?" I asked raising an eye since nearly every time they asked me to come with them they would leave through the nearest window.

"Would you rather go past the two of them downstairs and tell them the truth, that you are leaving them right after coming out of coma and escaping into a magical dimension?" he asked me, "Because I am not sure how they would take that."

"Oh you are just the joker are you not, fine let's get going," I went over to the window looking down; it was a fall drop this time. "Wait…how…" I asked feeling a little wobbly from the thought of jumping from this height, it was suicide. He put out a hand for me, I slid mine into his, our eyes for a moment connected and I just could not stop smiling. I had forgotten any worries about the jumping, at this moment my life would seem complete anyway.

"Hold onto my hand tightly and do not let go, I would not want to drop you somewhere between here and Joan's home," he smirked a little. I just nodded shutting my eyes about to ask him how he knew where she lived but before I could get the words out we were moving through the air, all I could see were trees and water beneath me, then some houses and buildings. In just minutes we landed somewhere less fortunate then my house. It looked like someone had taken a bomb and set it off in the center.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" I asked him as I saw rats running towards the sewage areas. He nodded towards me and let go of my hand.

"This is where Joan Stegman now lives, the house well…the burnt down shack is where she resides." He said sounding sorrowful as he led me down the street, there was almost no one around, just random stares from little children that scattered when you got too close. I stepped a little closer to Elgar feeling for his hand feeling a small twinge of fear from these people, they had obviously learn to live in ruins and could fend for themselves. He finally stopped in front of a small shack looking home that one side had caved in one; everything around it was black from the obvious fire. I peaked in through a window to see if she was there, I saw her but it was not what I expected to see.

She was straddling a middle aged man, her body so thin that her clothes began to fall off her shoulders. Her brown hair falling over one side as her hips swayed over his visibly hard package behind his zipper. He was balding already and had a beer belly which her hands held onto making small noises to please him. I stared in almost disappointment as she went on to unzip his pants, doing just about everything but having sex with the man. He handed her some money and then he left through the rotting door. Elgar had pulled me away from sight until he had passed then allowed me to look through the window again. She sat there, I could see her face now, and she had bags under her eyes which were blood shot beyond belief. Her hands were counting the money she had just made then stowed it away in a bag under a broken cabinet. I slowly went over to the door knocking on it softly; I could hear her from inside yawn a little as she came to answer it, speaking as she walked.

"Forget something?" she asked opening the door before she saw me. The moment our eyes met she froze and so did I. It was like we were suddenly unable to speak, so unlike us. When we were younger we had always been so close, we were sisters basically. "Annie…is that really you…" she asked me, my eyes began to well up with years as I nodded yes. She backed up a little from the door almost as if she did not really believe me, "How did you find me?" She went to grab a bottle that hung over by her bag. It was a bottle of some sort of liquor I could smell it instantly and her breath even wreaked of the nasty crap. I twitched a little, my nose scrunching up but I looked down so to not let her see.

"A friend helped me find you, how did this happen? You were destined for such great things, come with me I can help you out, I promise. Go live with my parents for a little…something." My words came out before I could filter them, she just merely laughed at them.

"I cannot live like a puppy on some old rich bitches lap like you Annie, I have standards," she told me as she sat down on the little cot she would have been calling a bed across the room. The bottle in hand swung upside down and fell down into her throat leaving the smell of it on her lips to intoxicate the next man she kissed. Elgar stepped inside moments later staying near the door and staying silent. I barely noticed him however; this was between the two of us right now.

"I am not a puppy on a lap Joan, I just came out of coma, and I remember nothing of living like that. I remember a life where you and I grew up together and are best friends, you and I lived close and went to school together, you were a cheerleader with amazing grades and I was the dork who stumbled over my own two feet getting black eyes, please believe me…you can do so much better than this place!" I rambled on, feeling very susceptible right then and there. My hands wanted so much to just grab her and hold her, this must have been what my parents felt when I first came to from the coma state. She just shrugged and put the bottle down onto the cabinet stumbling over to me.

"First of all, coma…good for you, just one more thing you have up on me. Second, boo hoo your dreams did not come true, get over it. Some of us do not have the rich parents and can afford to live like you do, and third…I would never be a fucking cheerleader!" She said angrily at the end leaning over against the wall, the clothes barely clinging to her.

"Joan…" I whispered a little going over to her; she shielded me away with her hand up. "Joan, I can give you…a life where you do not have to do what you do for money, I promise. I miss you so badly Joan, you really are my best friend no matter what," I told her keeping my own calm as she shut her eyes letting her arm drop.

"Annabelle," Elgar said from the corner. "Be careful of what you say now." He said warningly getting the idea that he knew what I was about to propose.

"And where is this life exactly, in New York with you and your parents?" She asked sarcastically pulling her head up to look at me. I shook my head.

"In a new world,"

"Annabelle!" Elgar shouted.

"I am the damn Queen, and if my best friends suffering like this I will bring her there, now back down Elgar," I growled angrily with authority. He instantly backed away bowing his head in compliance. Joan's eyes squinted a little when I had said queen; I knew it instantly that she thought she was going insane.

"I knew this had to be a dream, you would not just show up after so long and then say you are some sort of queen. Well it was nice while it lasted," she told me as she pinched her arm but did not wake up; she did it several times and then looked at me raising a suspicious eye.

"I am telling you the complete truth but I need you to be sober to listen to it, accept my offer please…" I put my hand out, she looked at it then at my face and I could tell she was contemplating on it.

"The worst that can happen is I wake up I guess," she said placing her hand in mine. I pulled our bodies together, I felt like I could snap her in half she was so tiny now. I turned to Elgar and spoke like a proper queen.

"I fully accept the terms in which I am queen. And now I need your help to bring her to our home, where she will be fixed a proper meal and nursed back to proper health. We have that sort of stuff, right?" I asked him at the end a bit quietly. He nodded, somewhat of a spark in his eyes as I told him exactly what to do. He went over taking Joan over his shoulder, as if she were nothing but a feather. I followed him out into the streets where I could smell fresh scents of those who had passed by. He took my hand and whispered to hold on again. I just nodded and we were gone in a blink of time. The moments it took to get there were short.

**Chapter 10: A New Home**

He took her off of his shoulder as the three of us stood in front of the huge mansion. She looked up at in with the same expression I remember myself having the first time I saw it. I could not help but laugh a little under my breath before taking her hand and pulling her inside the front doors. There were a lot more people out this time, the room was crowded and Demetrius stood in the front coming over detaching my hand from Joan's and pulling them into his while he kissed me deeper than ever before.

"Welcome home my queen…my wife, my love. We are all beyond excitement to welcome you back," he said opening an arm showing off the crowded room that bowed to me. I smiled a little at the recognition they gave me but told them to stand.

"I am glad to be home Demetrius, but I want things to continue on as they have been. I need some time to help my friend," I whispered to him as everyone parted with a simple wave of his hand.

"You know…technically we need to marry again, since you are in a different body," he told me. I just nodded a little sort of like I did not care to talk about it right then.

"Later, for now Joan is my focus," I informed him turning to her, seeing Elgar just grinning heavily. He followed me as I took Joan's hand bringing her upstairs to a spare bedroom. Elgar went into the bathroom that was connected and turned on the water letting it begin to run.

"I will be in my room if you need me Annabelle…" he told me kissing the top of my hand before leaving, I watched as he left.

"So which one are you in love with," Joan asked walking around the room. I snapped back looking at her questionably.

"What are you talking about? Elgar…the guy who was just in here is my best friend. The other one is going to be my husband again I guess…" I said with a shrug as I pulled her into the bathroom. "Shower, and then we will work on clothes. Enjoy," I said with a nod walking back over to the closet doors opening them. I heard the door to the bathroom shut and I knew she would be happy once she was in that shower; she probably had not had it in a while. Since she would be in there a while I decided to go down to Elgar's room, I knocked and he welcomed me inside. I went in leaning against the door and smiled.

"Thank you for bringing me home and helping me bring her back…you have no idea how much it means to me." I looked down at my feet, still in jeans and a tank top. He walked over to me putting his hands on my shoulders lifting my chin up to look into his eyes. They were so gentle towards me, my cheeks started to feel sore from smiling around him.

"I would do anything for you Annabelle, you should know this by now," he whispered to me as the door opened and Demetrius walked in, Elgar instantly walked away from me.

"Is your friend well?" he asked me looking over at Elgar as he sat down at his desk writing down some things.

"She is in the shower right now and then she will change and I want her to have a good meal." I informed him, not like a queen to a king but like a queen to a servant. I had no heart in my words, they were like ice to him and he could feel it.

"Annabelle, you really are back but you are different, you are acting like I am not your beloved. What has changed?" he asked me quietly. I just touched his hands and smiled up at him.

"Just getting back into the routine of things, that is all. Do not fret Demetrius, now can you tell the cooks to start making the biggest feast they have ever made before for dinner? And tell Franco that I want my specialty made," I winked at him; he smirked a little at the thought of Franco.

"Will do," he turned and walked away once again leaving Elgar and myself to our own in the room.

"I remember when the three of us actually could be in a room without you going silent or is that memory wrong?" I asked walking over to him. He glanced up from his papers and leaned back in the chair.

"No, it is correct but things have changed, you have been gone and I have witnessed things that I would rather not have, things I can never erase from my memories," he rambled but I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. I tilted my head coming around the other side of the desk to sit on the desk in front of him.

"What on earth are you talking about Elgar? Or should I call you Eddie," I teased him; he just kept a straight face.

"Now is not the time to tell you, your friend is nearly done with her shower I would go get those clothes ready," he said standing up and taking my hand lifting me off of his desk. I nodded and sighed a little walking out of the room down the halls to the room I had left her in. As soon as I walked in the water got cut off and she came into the bedroom with the white towel wrapped around her body almost a whole two times. I quickly laid out a pair of jeans with a long sleeve black shirt; it was simple but very warm. There was also a jacket hanging up in the corner for her. She looked clean and happy to be in even just the towel.

"Well your clothes are on the bed and if you're still cold there are sweatshirts and whatnot in the closet, feel free to use whatever you want." I stood near the door waiting if she had any questions.

"What are you Annie, what are you anymore," she asked quietly. I felt my chest get shocked somehow; I had no idea how to answer her. I looked at my feet searching for an answer, trying to think of something that would make even remotely sense. But nothing came to me; my words were no longer able to tell the story.

"I will show you when I figure it out myself, trust me," I left the door standing against the wall holding the palm of my hand against my forehead with a groan. "What am I…?"

"You are a Delegand Annabelle, and you already knew that, why are you questioning it?" Elgar said leaning next to me arms crossed. "Is she happy here?" He looked over at me, I just shrugged. "She does not entirely fit in, and even though we are not full vampires or demons we do still feed on emotions from mortals and it does get over whelming at times." I looked over at him and nodded to say I understood.

"Is there any way to change her then?" I asked him quietly, his hand reached over taking mine rubbing the top with his thumb.

"It is better that you do not know the answer to that question just yet. Let her feel better first, you do not want her getting sick from being so thin and whatnot." He knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. The door opened up and I quickly dropped my hand away from his when I saw her dressed in normal clothes, it made my heart flutter happily. She walked in front of us, raising an eye at us I could hear her stomach growling.

"We will be eating soon," I commented. She took in a breath of fresh air and ran her hands through her hair.

"Good because I am starving and I mean that literally!" She laughed and I smiled. "We have a lot to catch up on, don't we…" she asked me as I nodded stepping forward away from the wall and towards her.

"So much, it may take a few days, so I guess you are stuck here for a while," I grinned as she yawned lightly into her hand. "But for now, until dinner please please please go get some sleep, you desperately need it." I held her hands in mine but she nodded backing away back into the bedroom. "She really is going to go places one day; she will go farther than all of us." I said watching the door shut.

"Sounds like you have a crush on her or something," he teased, I hit his arm.

"She is not the one I have a crush on," I smirked walking away leaving him stunned at my remark. I walked down some stairs to the kitchen to check up on how it was, to see how they would be cooking; each step helped me remember more details about my life. Demetrius was nowhere to be seen, but I met a few people that I used to know the first lifetime around. I was sort of enjoying myself, talking to all these people who actually wanted to talk to me. It was amazing to not be the one crowding someone else but to be the one surrounded by others. Once I had enough of them I simply said so and they dispersed. High school should have been like this, it was a much better system! I went outside watching up at the sky, the coma dream had finally faded a little but I still missed that life, it may not have been perfect but it was going somewhere at least. The sky was becoming dark, I could feel it in my veins as well as I felt power coming to my finger tips. I shut my eyes and the clouds over head began to let down a heavy rainfall. I did not move however; my feet were planted directly to the ground, my breath becoming short. I opened my eyes finally, already drenched beyond belief, I could see everything, and yet nothing. Just pure blackness and solemn emptiness stared me in the eye, my finger tips reaching up into the sky, so pale against its background.

"Take me," my words came out without completely understanding what they meant. Within a few moments I saw lightning attach to my fingers from the sky and sent heavy shocks through my body. It stayed that way for nearly a whole minute until it was completely inside of me, filling my body with power. I could feel everything ten times more vibrant now, the lightning withdrawing from me now. The rain let up instantly and I felt my body become high with strength, drunken with the power and superiority that I now held. Elgar stood about ten feet from me and I could feel him watching my every move, I turned my head to look over at him. The clouds were parting and the blue sky began to show, it was nearly mid day about now.

"I believe this is a proper welcome back Queen Annabelle," he said bowing his entire body in front of me. I walked over to him and pulled him to his feet.

"I believe you are correct," I whispered to him, he just looked down at me, his eyes just so calm looking down at me. I took his hand and he began to lead me inside to the castle towards my master bedroom that Demetrius had shown me the first time he brought me here. Elgar stood me in the center of the bedroom and grabbed a heavy white towel placing it around my shoulders drying my skin. Part of me knew that I could do it myself but letting him rub my arms felt just so nice. I stared up at him and saw him coming towards my face with his own, I moved away quickly. I took a few steps away from him and scratched the back of my neck clearing my throat.

"Elgar, please restrain from anything like that…" I said quietly, even though I wanted it I knew that in this position that I was to be re married to Demetrius. This was the part that began to eat away at my heart. He just nodded quietly asking for forgiveness coming over taking the towel off my shoulders and touching my arm instantly warmth spread over my body as everything dried instantly. His fingers curled around the towel as he walked into the closet placing it inside a black hamper. I walked over feeling my heartbeat in my fingers now.

"I ask for your forgiveness," he told me as his head stayed bowed at the ground facing the closet away from me. I grabbed his hand turning him around and placed it on my hips.

"And I ask for the truth, do you have feelings for me…" I would never in my wildest nightmares been able to ask someone that if it were anyone other than Elgar, I could barely believe that. I felt his body warmth begin to rise as I stared at him but then it dropped when he spoke.

"You are my best friend of course I have feelings for you though they may not be the ones you want," he smirked but I knew it was a fake. I simply rolled my eyes and walked away from him, if he did not wish to admit it just yet that was fine but he did have a time limit to listen, because I guessed that Demetrius would want to be remarried very soon. I walked out of the room and into the hall going to check upon Joan who had probably needed days of sleep. But she also needed a decent meal so I would wake her up soon to eat then let her pass out again. When I opened the door I saw Demetrius standing near the bed looking over her, he glanced over at me then walked into the hall shutting the door.

"What were you doing?" I questioned looking at him oddly.

"Checking on your friend, she sleeps soundly. I know she is important to you so I wish to make sure she is as comfortable as possible," he said and I could not help but smile. Maybe this was why I had married him and not Elgar; he spoke what was on his mind.

"Thank you Demetrius, I have a question for you…when…when do you want to get married?" I asked him, he took my hand.

"No no…I want to do it right, I will take you on a proper date and ask you properly," he told me as he kissed the top of my hand and walked away.

"Very well then," I watched his lips on my skin for the moment then just watched him leaving. "Dinner tonight?" I asked him, he turned around and smirked.

"I am supposed to ask you to dinner Annabelle, so will you join me tonight for dinner?" I walked over to him and reached up kissing his cheek whispering yes. He backed away from me and left walking quickly down the hall. I went back in to the bedroom where Joan had begun to stir.

"Awake already?" I asked with a smile sitting back down to her. She sat up a little stretching her arms and scratching her head, her hair was a wreck.

"Yeah well I heard some chatty birds outside my room and it kind of woke me up," she grumbled but smiled.

"Well, I know you are tired but I want you to eat some good food for now, lets you and I go downstairs and get a big plate of any kind of food you want and then you can sleep for the next three days straight if that is what you want," I told her as I saw her yawn, I felt so distant from her because of the change. Her being mortal and me not…She nodded though and pushed the blankets off of her legs, I got up off the bed. We went downstairs into the smaller of the dining rooms and the table was filled with just about anything she could think of. She stared at the table her jaw dropping at this, my own lips laughing quietly. She was not sure where to go first, watch to eat first.

"Dig in Joan, it is all for you."

"What about you? Or do you not eat anymore? I mean you are so tiny…so thin," she said grabbing a plate and starting to put some mashed potatoes on it.

"I have a date tonight, with my…ex husband?" I said cautiously, unsure of how to even take this.

"You were married and divorced already? But you are only what…seventeen?" she asked me as she poured herself a drink.

"It is really complicated, I will explain it once you get your sleep," I said a bit dully just sitting down and watching her. She sat with happiness just putting so much food into her mouth, stuffing it so she could barely talk. She just nodded toward me and spent the next twenty minutes eating nonstop until she sat back putting hands on her stomach. "Careful, don't eat so much at first…you probably are not used to it all," I warned her. She let out a small breath and got to her feet walking around a little.

"I think the bed is looking very comfortable," she said to me heading for the door. I nodded and followed her to show her the way back to the room. All the way there she was just astounded by the beautiful paintings and pictures on the walls. Once back at the room she passed out onto the bed face first into the pillow. I did not stay to watch her sleep; I went to my room to change into a dress I had made a while back apparently. I was gray and knee length; the ends were embroidered with small designs. I slipped into it and pulled my hair into a tight bun on top of my head and some curls falling to the side of my face. I put on some plain black flats that had a small bow on the top. I made my way outside to look up at the moon that had risen high into the sky and was surrounded by stars. I looked up at it and just smiled happily at the calm serenity. I felt two hands on my hips from behind as I looked around seeing Demetrius.

"You look beautiful tonight Annabelle," he told me taking my one hand and spinning me around. He took me closer to him as he kissed my forehead.

"Well thank you…" I whispered shutting my eyes momentarily. "So where will we be eating dinner tonight?" I asked quietly, he lifted my chin up.

"There is a spot we used to go to, the waterfall…" he lowered my hand and began to pull me along with him.

**Chapter 11: Fantasy**

"A waterfall?" I asked raising an eye as he walked me across a clear field. To our left was a small town full of houses. And to our right were trees with a path in the center of them which was where we went.

"Yes, it was actually the first place we went we had our first real date. It was before you became the queen so we could actually sneak away sometimes and make love. Do you remember?" he asked me as we stepped through the woods, it felt safe even in the complete darkness.

"No, I am sorry" I said shaking my head. Although I had remembered a lot of things the details were still a little on the downside.

"You will, and if you do not well I will create new better memories for you, and I swear on my life I will never ever let you get hurt again, you will not die until you are ready to." He said with a solid voice as I saw a tall waterfall in front of us. The moon sat above it, the glistening above bounced off the beautiful clear blue water. I just smiled following him; I could see a small basket sitting on top of a large blanket next to the water. I glanced up at him and then walked faster than him towards the basket kneeling down next to it. Moments later he joined me.

"This is…beyond beautiful Demetrius, I can see why I loved you so much." I whispered to him. He simply smiled at me opening the basket up for me and handed me an apple. I took it biting into the apple slowly, feeling the juice seep into my lips. "Wow," I said as it dripped a little, I laughed lightly at this as his finger came to my chin cleaning up the juice.

"Well, there are more contributing factors," he told me as he leaned forward, moving the apple aside as he placed a low kiss on my chin, it felt so soft and meaningful. His lips slowly moved up towards my lips finally meeting them. I tilted my head gently and kissed him back slowly. He put a hand on my waist leaning me back against the ground; I felt my heart pick up. I pushed him back a little so we were no longer kissing.

"A bit fast…" I whispered quietly shutting my eyes for a moment before looking up at him as he hovered over my body. "Just a little too quick still…you said proper date and proper asking and I would never do this on a normal first…you know," I rambled a little, he just laughed a little pulling me up to sit again.

"Completely…understandable, I guess I just sort of remembered how we used to be, always kissing in private when no one was looking, forgive me?" He said looking down at his fingers, his body a few inches from mine.

"Of course, just remember that this is a different time now and we must move slowly at first. Our hearts…my heart must mend back to what it used to be." I said quietly tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear then lifting the apple back to my lips finishing it while he stared into the water watching his reflection become distorted. The night was calm and we spent several hours out there just speaking of different memories that I had not regained yet. Once he brought me back to the castle he walked me to my room like a true gentleman would.

"Well Queen Annabelle…or should I call you Annie," he paused with a grin. "I bid you a good night's rest and farewell until morning arrives, sleep well." He leaned forward kissing my cheek and walking away from me leaving me to my own. I got into my room and shut the door behind me and leaned against it with a wide grin. I found myself changed into my pajamas and then crashed on my bed for a few hours. When I woke up the sun had just risen and I felt completely refreshed. I stretched my arms, the blankets messed up around my body, my legs twisted up in them. I groaned slightly looking over to see that my clock was only about six in the morning.

"Time to wake up Queen Annabelle," a woman's voice said as she opened up my door then went over to the windows opening the curtains up to let in some sunlight. I peaked from under the pillow I had thrown on my head at her; she was thin and wore a maid's outfit.

"What is your name?" I grumbled under my breath.

"It is Jaciline," she said with a bit of a Spanish accent.

"Ah, Jaciline, I am giving you breaks now…go," I said trying to hide under the blankets, I simple heard her laugh.

"No no, come on Queen Annabelle it is time for you to begin making this a better place again," she straightened up the room a little and pulled the blankets away from me. "Plus Elgar has requested your presence at breakfast." She smiled hearing a bit of happiness in her voice at that.

"Has he now…and why?"

"We all know why, now up at it Queen Annabelle, he expects you down there in one hours time." I threw my head back against the pillow before finally getting up to take my shower. I took my time cleaning off every inch of my body. I got dressed in another knee length dress but this one was a little different, it had no sleeves and was red. I curled my hair for the rest of the hour and met Elgar down in the breakfast hall. It was just him in there with a single rose in between his fingers and a candle burning between our plates. My lips could not help but smile at this, I walked closer to him and he handed me the rose.

"Good morning my lady, I was thinking some breakfast and then some ruling," he grinned pulling a chair out for me. I sat and he pushed it in then sat across from me while our food was shown, some toast and eggs along with sausage.

"I wholeheartedly agree with you"

"I really need to settle some new rules that have been set in motion while you were gone." He pulled out a piece of parchment sliding it across the table which had a list of laws and whatnot written on it. I read over them, typical laws nothing that was unreasonable.

"Everything on there okay?" he asked me as he handed me a quill.

"So far, but let's enjoy this breakfast before I get to work. I can barely recognize the fact that I am awake currently." I laughed a little "And this rose…you really did not have to, I mean even though I am the queen, I do not want special treatment, that is going to be a big rule of mine. I want to be treated with respect but not as if I am some foreign god." I looked down at the rose and smiled, "But I really liked the rose…so never mind what I just said."

"Alright then," he laughed back at me and finished his food. I took my time and sat back taking in a deep breath.

"That was really good, it would have been better if someone made it specially for me," I teased him creating a fake cough pointing at him.

"Tomorrow maybe if I am feeling up to it," he joked back.

"Okay, now to work, do I have a specific hall or room that you and I can work in peace? With no interruptions…" I asked him standing up.

"Yes, follow me." He got to his feet lifting my hand and then dropped it lightly. He obviously had taken what I had said the night before seriously and was making no movements to peruse me anymore. This made me slightly upset, the rose must have just been common courtesy around here. He brought me into a room that was filled from wall to wall with books and a desk in the center of the room along with a single fireplace on the single empty spot of the wall and couches placed around sporadically. He took a seat in front of the desk and let me take the larger seat behind the desk. There was a single book laid out on the front with the words (Russian for; The Laws).

"Well shall we?" he asked looking down at the book, my finger tracing over the letters that were engraved into the hard cover. I nodded and we spent the next few hours going over every single law that there was in the book editing, and revising. Around noon we decided to take a break, getting some lunch and eating out by a small garden under a tree.

"I hope this all gets a little easier in the end for this place, it seems very beautiful in this world," I said quietly letting my head back against the bark of the tree. He nodded quietly to himself his eyes shut and his head leaned back next to mine.

"Trust me, after a few weeks you will have this place running perfectly again." He said with confidence not moving at all. My fingers pulled up the grass beneath my leg biting my lip a little. He had such confidence in me that I almost did not entirely believe him.

"How do you know…?" I asked him looking over but he did not move except to speak.

"Because you did it for so long before, I know you can do it now," he sighed a little. I looked over kneeling now facing him; his one eye opened a little to look at me.

"How do you see me?" I asked him, this created an eruption of small laughs from his lips.

"I see you kneeling," he told me shaking his head. I slouched a little rolling my eyes at him.

"No Elgar, I mean honestly do you see me as a friend or simply as your queen. When I first met you, they told me that we were best friends…and honestly I do not get that feeling from you. And I sort of want it back…" I told him with my face at the grass as I continued to pluck at it. He opened his eyes and looked over at me with a smile lifting my face up.

"Annabelle, you are not my queen, you are my fantasy lover," he winked playfully and I laughed a bit. "You truly are my best friend I suppose I am just a bit jealous of Joan, since you brought her here, I feel that I may lose you." He touched his palm to his forehead. I quickly grabbed both of his hands in mine.

"You will never lose me, no matter how hard you try!" I quickly exclaimed. "Though…you may lose me in one way…to Demetrius, it is quite obvious you enjoy my company more than a friend would…more like a true lover would." I told him going to get to my feet but he pulled me back down.

"You know? How on earth can you know now and have not known before?" he asked frantically.

"In my memories, I knew…I have always known, but you never really acted upon it, always playing at my best friend instead of the boy who had a crush on me." I smiled.

"The moment I did try to act upon it the other day you shunned me away Annabelle," he whispered almost frustrated.

"Because I wish for you to properly show affection before a physical sin," I smirked a little loving how much was being teased by all of this.

"Very well, I shall court you until it is proper time but alas what about Demetrius, your king."

"As of now, he is simply another person that lives here; you are higher up than he is actually. And do not think about him, he will be my issue…I shall choose whom I love more and I shall marry that person." I gathered myself to my feet and brushed off the dress. "Now, we have many more laws to rummage through and fix." He got up to his own feet and walked me inside to finish our work.

Joan did not stir or come out of the room for days; I had some food delivered to her room for when she did wake. After a week of her not becoming better I began to worry and sent a doctor in to check her out. Elgar and Demetrius had both been attempting to court me as they promised, dinners and walks, along with waterfall at the nightfall. I refused to kiss either one of them any of those times, fear of my heart swaying for one. I stood outside of Joan's door pacing back and forth, waiting to hear what he had to say. He came out and shook his head at me; I could see her just sleeping on in the bed before he shut the door.

"What is wrong with her?" I asked immediately. I puckered his lips with a frown.

"She is ill; she has been since you saw her, her body has grown weaker by the day. All the men she has slept with have given her a disease and also…she has cancer unforgivably. I am sorry…but neither of them is fully treatable and at her stage she will be gone within a few weeks," he gathered his items walking past me when I stood stunned without words. I stared at the door and took in a deep breath pushing the door open, she looked up at me she did not look so sick, just tired.

"I am sorry I did not tell you sooner Annie," she whispered. She had known? I hid the tears in my eyes and sat down beside her. "I just saw how happy you were to see me and I wanted to give you that at least before I left this place…and now I sort of wish I did not have to," she could not hold back her tears however.

"Joan, I will try everything in my will power to keep you alive, I swear on my life." I took her hand holding it tightly. She just shook her head and sat up.

"No you will not, I request that my life not be dragged out anymore then it is supposed to be, I am supposed to die and therefore I will." She leaned her head forward onto my shoulder. I just wrapped my arms around her body tightly breathing unsteady. "Come on now; are you not the queen now? I thought queens were supposed to be these straight faced never crying strong willed leaders…" she whispered to me. I just laughed a little wiping the few tears under my eyes that had fallen not letting her go.

"I suppose I am not too great of a queen then," I told her quietly then pulled back. "By the way, you look fantastic, and I am just glad I got to see you before it were too late. Do you have anything you wanted to do before the end?" I asked although part of me felt guilty for talking about her oncoming death.

"There is one thing…I have always wanted to go to a ball, in the whole dress and all," she told me laying back down on the bed. I nodded quickly getting up putting my hands on top of my head finally catching my breath.

"Easy, I will have it for you in a week's time, it will be perfect, I want you to write down anything you want to do, and I will get it done for you." She shut her eyes again but I was afraid the more she shut them the less time she had.

"Do not sleep too long Joan, please wake up soon and join us downstairs, I will stop my work and we can go out and do anything you wish." I kept repeating myself, wanting it to be clear that I would try anything and everything for her. I walked away towards the door feeling her heart rate drop to the sleeping beats of hers. Outside the door Elgar leaned against the wall just waiting.

"I am sorry for your friend Annabelle," he told me as I came out regaining my posture and confidence more than ever. This hurt was becoming strength and I would grow from it. I just nodded towards him and showed no weakness in my eyes.

"Was there something you needed Elgar?" I asked him.

"Just wanted to let you know that since you have come back our economy has gotten back to strong will and neutral, in a week just like I said. But I will not take up any more of your time, forgive my rudeness," he bowed about to excuse himself. I grabbed his hand with a sigh knowing that he only meant well.

"Thank you," I said looking up at him with a faint smile. "I will need your help actually…she wants a ball, you know the dancing sort, and well…I want it to be perfect, so can you help me?" He squeezed my hands then lifted them to his lips kissing my skin.

"Anything, anytime." He whispered the words to me before spinning me around slowly, "Actually, on one condition." He said lifting his head up to look at me with a grin. I raised my eye a little bit confused.

"And what is that condition?"

"You come as my partner," he said very clearly. I looked down, I had not thought about that part exactly. I bit my lip in thought, looking at the floor to the side then looked at him and nodded.

"Yes."

"Fantastic, then let's get Joan the perfect ball," he told me and that perked me back up, I walked ahead of him down the end of the hall then let him lead me for the rest of the day.

**Chapter 12: Queen, May I?**

We sat across each other at the table, notebooks in front of both of us, notes scribbled down, numbers and names and anything that we would need to do or get for this ball, it had been four days since we began planning this. He leaned back in his chair tossing his pen over at me, I gasped and then tossed it back at him but he caught it in between his fingers putting a funny sexy face on his lips.

"Jealous?" he winked with a grin leaning forward spinning the pen in between his fingers. I shook my head with a laugh, one of the first real ones in days. I had been so stressed and head strong about getting the details right that I had actually forgotten about myself in many ways.

"Never," I whispered back leaning forward with my elbows on the table. I reached over to take the pen back and mimicked the movement terribly, it fell on the table and he laughed at me,

"I am jealous about those mad talents," he teased me and I reached over the table shoving his arm. He pulled me onto the table and started to tickle my sides as I lay on my back with my knees trying to shield him away.

"Stop stop stop!" I yelled shaking all over the table trying to get him to stop it, I grabbed his hands against my hips thinking it would stop him but instead it only made it worse. Then I pushed him away going to sit up and our lips accidentally met mid air, I could feel his warm lips on mine, neither of us moved for a moment until I pulled away and looked at my fingers stunned unable to speak.

"S…so…sorry," he said quietly and grabbed my hand pulling me up and set me down on the ground. "I will let you finish your list in private, I must go."

"No you must not, you are simply…avoiding the words you want to say," I told him with uncertainty. I pulled his wrist back and held his hands. "I enjoyed it very much, how about yourself?"

"Absolutely," he smiled and kissed my forehead "But let's not do it again for a little while at least until we know or rather…I know you and I will be together, I do not want to get my hopes up too high." He told me rubbing the tops of my hands.

"We will be, ever since I met you…I think even before the accident I really wanted to be with you, not Demetrius but he took the steps to get me, you were scared. And I do not want you to be scared this time Elgar…please," I begged of him. He looked me straight in the eyes and leaned down kissing me again, this time both of us were ready for the meeting of our lips. His hands fell to my hips pulling me against him while one of his hands lay on my cheek. Both of our eyes were closed, and in just moments I felt the ecstasy growing and my hands crawl against his chest until we both heard someone familiar coming down the hall towards our door. I quickly flattened the dress I had on and sat back down in my seat as Elgar sat across from me and we pretended like nothing had happened. The door opened and Demetrius had walked in.

"How is the planning going?" he asked walking over kissing the side of my head, I just sort of flinched away from him a little, he apparently did not realize. I just shrugged and let my pen tap over the paper.

"What are you doing here though?" I asked looking up at him.

"Coming to see how you were holding up and let you know I got everything settled for your little dance," he said as if it was nothing important, but to me it was very important.

"Yeah? Thank you very much, but we need to continue working so I will come and see you later okay?" I told him, he nodded and left the room. Elgar finally let out some laughs that he had been holding back. I jumped up and climbed across the table pushing him back so he fell down onto the floor with a thump still laughing loudly. I went to help him up and he pushed me back against the table lifting me up onto it then locked the door to the room.

"No more interruptions this time," he said coming back to me and letting our lips tangle. "May I?" he asked quietly placing his hands on my hips as I looked at him.

"Just kiss me," I whispered and for the next hour or so I could feel nothing but his lips on mine.

By time we stopped I knew it was nightfall and I had to go check on Joan. I got up off the table stealing a few more of his kisses and then walked down the hall feeling nothing but butterflies in my stomach. I went to her room opening the door and then shut it quietly still seeing her sleeping soundly. I sat down on the bed beside her and then laid down talking quietly.

"Oh my Joan…I think…I am finally in love." I whispered although I doubt she could hear me with her light snores going on. "Real love not that king queen marriage crap I had going on." I laughed a little shutting my eyes and biting my lip and fell asleep next to Joan.

The next thing I remember waking up to was Joan's voice.

"So you think you are in love? Love is not real, that queen king thing you had going on sounds perfect, you should stick with that at least it is solid," she told me having food on her lap that someone must have brought in for her. I looked up at her shaking my head barely having my eyes open.

"It is solid but it is not what I want, as if he was my friend before marriage, well he will have to work through things because Elgar and I are in love…true love," my words were just spilling from my mouth with no boundaries, my brain was just saying what It wanted to say. "Love…such a wrath to bear down upon me, I adore it." She got out of the bed and stretched a bit.

"Well you fall into that love stage but remember I am more important than that little boyfriend of yours," she said with a smile grabbing my hands. I got up and put a finger to her lips.

"Do not speak a word of it out loud to anyone please," I asked her and she pretended to zip her lips shut. I let out a happy sigh and walked over to the closet pulling out a dress for her throwing it at her. "I think you need to get out of this bedroom and go for a super long walk outside."

"I think I agree, but I am freezing so a huge jacket would be a huge help," she said going over to the closet which she had apparently gone through because it was all moved around and changed up. She pulled out one of the jackets from the far back, a black trench coat; one like the one that I had seen Demetrius wearing one night, I shrugged. She put it on and it fit her perfectly, how peculiar. I took her out to the grounds into the woods where the path split and instead of taking her to the waterfall I just took her for a walk near the flowers and trees. She danced over the ground happily.

"I have not gotten to do this since we were kids, thank you Annie," she said weakly walking a few feet than collapsing onto the ground without any thing stopping her body from hitting the ground full force. I ran over frantically screaming as I pulled her up into my arms, Elgar was there in moments. He took her from my arms and cradled her against his body, I stood up shaking heavily.

"We must get her inside, get the doctor here now." He told me calmly and I obeyed, I got the doctor there in minutes and he had her lying in her bed looking sicker than ever. Her eyes were dark and her lips looked like they barely have any color left inside of them. The doctor had asked me to leave but I refused to leave that room, Elgar however did stand outside. I paced in front of the bed with my hands rubbing my arms nervously.

"What is wrong with her," I cried lightly as he examined her. He did not answer me, still checking blood pressure and taking some vile samples. After a short while he finally stood up in his entirety.

"She cannot stand the outdoors, so please do not attempt to bring her out there again. Her immune system is not ready to trial such things now that we have her stabilized. Also…" he paused looking over at her walking closer to me, "I know I said a few months but her disease looks to be moving far quicker than I had predicted, she may have a week if she is lucky." I nodded and told him that he was dismissed. He grabbed his stuff and left quietly, leaving Elgar standing in the doorway. I went over sitting next to her, somehow they made me believe I had lived my whole life without this girl, but how could I? She made me sane, she made me smile, and even in her sleep she was doing it. She was the reason that sometimes I could get away with things I did. She could not die, not yet… I pushed some of her hair back and pulled the blankets closer to her body before walking over to Elgar putting my face into his chest. His hands found my back and rubbed it softly pulling me closely, every time something went right for me it seemed something wrong for her. I looked up at Elgar and just shook my head, I did not cry often but these tears were flowing without reserve. He leaned down to wipe them away and whisper to me in my ear.

"She is happy," he told me.

"How do you know?" I asked shutting my eyes a little bit.

"She told me so, last night." He kissed my cheek softly and I smiled a little. "She told me that she never had a better friend than yourself, and when you two parted her heart had broken and now that you two have found each other of course as she put it her body has broken. But she loves you to her death, literally. She is not afraid, more so upset that she could not spend more time with you, so do no worry. Let's throw her this ball and let her live those last few days in happiness." His words calmed me and made me nod furiously.

"Can we go and work on it right now? I mean no point in wasting time," I told him as I took his hands in mine with my back against the wall.

"Queen Annabelle, May I kiss you right now?" he asked me cautiously with a whisper, I let go of one of his hands which found my hip, and put mine on his neck pulling him down.

"Yes you may," I told him back and he kissed me softer than I ever imagined. My head lulled back against the wall, for once lately not caring who if anyone saw this. My other hand let go to slid up and latch behind his neck, our hips coming together when his hands held my waist. Our kissing became a little more than just gentle comforting, our heads tilted slightly more than normal. My leg lifted up around the back of his for a moment before pushing him away with a light smile.

"Ball first…then kissing," I whispered and pulled his hand down the wall towards the room we had spent days in to grab our lists of what to do. I had a feeling someone had seen us but I had no idea who it was.

**Chapter 13: On My Dying Day**

We spent two more days getting everything ready, not wasting a moment except for a few hidden smiles and kisses behind the curtains. Whenever I saw Demetrius he acted the same, thinking that he was going to get me in the end, I would let him have his thoughts. It was finally the day of the ball and Joan had been up for nearly two hours without any incidents so far. I had sent her to pick out the dress of her dreams, and then to get her hair done and whatever else she wanted. Around three in the afternoon I had to go get dressed myself.

"I will not be long, I will see you there. Will you please walk her there?" I asked him with a small yawn.

"But you are my date," he joked "Wait, two dates? I could do that…" he winked playfully before kissing my hand and walking away to change. I went through the different dresses in the closet picking through them; I wanted it to be an amazing dress, not only for myself but for Elgar as well. Somewhere inside of me had begun to wonder why Demetrius had not asked me to be his date but then again I was sort of happy I did not have to tell him no. My thoughts were going to be the death of me though because moments later my door opened after a momentary knock. I turned seeing Demetrius come through and shut the door behind him.

"I think that …this dress would be the one for you," he said lifting up a pure white dress that had volume towards the bottom and a corset like top.

"It is beautiful," I said going over to take it, there was not denying that this dress was beyond words. I held it up against my body and spun a little with a smile. "I will wear it, thank you. Now I must finish getting ready, please excuse me," I told him standing back in front of the mirror looking down at the dress.

"I will be back to escort you there soon," he informed me before I could object. I shrugged; after all I did not someone to walk me in since I had Elgar walking in Joan. I put the dress on and curled my hair in tiny thin curls letting them fall over my shoulders. I had to admit I looked stunning, I spun around in front of the mirror laughing lightly before walking into the hallway, and it was almost time for the ball to begin. Demetrius showed up and kissed my hand then hooked our arms together. He wore a very handsome black tuxedo which next to me almost seemed perfect.

"She will love this," I said out loud and he agreed walking me down where everyone was gathered, a soft piano melody playing at that moment. I made my way to a large chair up front, just a single chair as I had asked. He kissed my hand again and allowed me to sit before joining the crowd in the room. In moments I knew she was heading our way, so I had everyone turn her way and I stood up. New music, more attention seeking sort of music began to play. She walked in with a flowing red dress that I recognized instantly, I had actually made that dress at some point, I do not remember the details but I remembered the dress. It made me smile that she subconsciously chose something that I personally designed. Elgar on her left held her arm like a gentleman in his own penguin suit. She blushed deeply looking around seeing everyone in their own dresses and suits. Once she got to me I stepped aside and spoke.

"I hope you enjoy this because it is all for you, and anything you wish to have we can get." I hugged her tightly even though everyone was watching I did not really mind.

"Thank you so much Annie, also…no wonder you want to do him, he's hot," she said with a grin. I could hear a few snickers throughout the room; they probably assumed she spoke about Demetrius which was fine for then. I knew however that she spoke about Elgar. I took her down to the floor where I flicked my hand up and everyone went on with their dancing and having fun. We danced next to each other laughing and smiling like we had used to do when we were young.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed after a while, I heard her wheezing a little so I told her we would go get something to drink and then come back in a little bit. We walked slowly over to a table where I had her sit down and I grabbed her some water. I handed her the glass and told her to drink it slowly, I drank some water myself as well. Elgar came up behind me and leaned in between the two of us.

"Having fun ladies?" he asked before sitting down in the seat beside me. For a split moment I actually felt like this was normal, like things were supposed to be this way. Joan smiled and winked playfully at me, I just shook my head, my cheeks beginning to hurt from all the smiling I had been doing lately.

"Absolutely, though Demetrius must be getting suspicious or something because he has not been breathing down my neck so far," I said tucking a strand of curls behind my ear.

"Actually, we need to talk about him. He has been planning something for tonight and it's something that you have changed your mind about," he said obviously not wanting to say it in front of Joan. I looked over at her and smiled softly.

"Joan, I will return shortly, any man in here would be excited to dance with you, feel free to choose anyone you want," I told her reaching over and squeezing her hand gently then stood up to my feet and walked with Elgar into the hall where he paced in front of me. "What has he been planning exactly Elgar?"

"That dress, he gave it to you, looks awfully pure does it not like a wedding dress," he said slowly swallowing his anger a little. I looked down not having realized it but I did look exactly like a wedding dress. I stepped back finding the wall and took in a deep breath shaking my head. "He plans on marrying you tonight, as always turning something important for someone else, into something good for him, selfish bastard," he growled with annoyance. It must have been a pattern for Demetrius. I kicked the wall behind me in anger myself and growled under my breath.

"I am not going to just marry him because I was once before! How dare he get off on that notion," I said balling my hands up into fists. "Where is he? I am going to go tell him about us right now," I said fiercely and began to walk towards the door again.

"He is not in there, he is down in the dungeons preparing for his event," he told me grabbing my hands and pulled me with him heading towards downstairs, something felt odd at that moment, I caught a whiff of pure evil which I automatically assumed was from Demetrius and his plans. As he dragged me down the halls towards the dungeons I began to realize that I did not sense Demetrius anywhere nearby.

"Are you sure he is down here?" I asked curiously. He looked back at me and nodded momentarily. "I do not sense him though, I would know if he was down here, we should go back to the ball and see if he is there Elgar," I said fighting against his pull but he did not stop. "Elgar!" I yelled and he yanked me harder as I tried to stop walking.

"No, you are going to the dungeons like it or not Queen Annabelle," his voice was no longer sweet or safe; instead it was full of danger and jealously.

"Elgar…why? Why are you doing this? I thought you loved me," I asked him feeling my voice crack under confusion. He finally stopped and shoved me against the wall in the center of the rock stairwell, my back hitting it hard. He looked down at my face, his hand tracing over my collar bone.

"Because my queen…you are too beautiful to have rule this world, and I believe that the only way to keep it that way is going to be by locking you away so no one can ever find you again." His eyes lingered between my breasts and I shoved him away but he was back before I could move my feet to run. His hand rung around my wrist so tightly I could feel my finger tips fade to numbness. I groaned shutting my eyes, he wanted to play rough and try to lock me away so he was no longer my ally but now my enemy. I still had not gotten full control over them but maybe some spontaneous harm would do him good. I shut my eyes and let the anger fill my body, sending shock waves out which sent him backwards grabbing at his skin which must have been on fire. I growled angrily holding my hands up which now had balls of fire growing to a deep red.

"You not only betrayed my friendship but you betrayed my heart! I was in love with you and now you have given me no choice but to tear your lying heart out and place it along with the others that have betrayed their lovers. In hell." My words were met by the strength in those balls of fire as they darted at him, one hitting him in the chest followed by the other both endorsed with heavy amounts of painful power. He stumbled back falling down the rest of the stairs; I stalked him down to the very end. "You will die tonight Elgar; you will die like you have never thought." He scrambled to his feet speaking swiftly before I could attack.

"I will not die, but Joan will," he was out of sight, I spun around seeing his foot turn the corner, I quickly chased after him. He was not about to touch my friend! My best friend, one that did not stab me in the back trying to murder me! I was up the stairs in moments heading back to the ball room. Once I pushed the doors open there was silence inside and he stood in the center with Joan against his chest and a knife against her neck. "You know what is good about her being so mortal? The smallest slit of her throat can make her blood flow against my skin and she will die. Now, no one moved a muscle or she dies and then all of you are next. Annabelle, follow me outside for a chat," he said with a deep voice now. I saw Demetrius a few feet behind him giving me a look of strength as he tip toed closer to Elgar. I bit my lip, I did not want him hurt, and after all in the end he was the one who had been the safer choice.

"Did I just not say no one moves a muscle?" he asked with a growl turning his face towards Demetrius letting the blade hit harder against her skin which made her squeal in pain. Demetrius put his hands up freezing in his spot, I felt like I just wanted to explode but I had to keep my calm. I nodded towards him walking towards the door as he dragged Joan along as she struggled a bit. I squinted my eyes hard feeling my hands clench as her noises.

"Joan, do not struggle it is only going to make it worse, please…" I begged of her but was hushed by Elgar. We finally reached outside, it was pouring rain outside and I could barely see in front of my face. He smirked in front of me though I could feel his lips curling on that direction before he spoke loudly over the lightning and thunder that had begun.

"Now you have a choice to make my Queen, either she dies right here right now and we can send you away back into the mortal world for a few years before your life ends, or you can die right here right now and I can let the cancer spread through her body and take her by tomorrow," he explained very clearly. I shook my head balling my hands into fists so tightly that it was starting to hurt.

"Neither, please just let her go and we can…we can talk it over, just let her go." I begged him then saw some of her blood fall down her throat.

"That was not a choice now was it, I do not remember talking being a part of either of my choices, this is a limited time offer however, soon I am just going to kill you right here right now." He said tapping his wrist a little pressing the blade enough to make the side of her neck bleed. I stepped closer to them just enough to see her eyes they were already fading…her time was coming sooner than tomorrow and even she knew this. I did not want to let her go so soon, we had just reconnected but this was a critical situation, I had a whole world of mine to look after.

"I love you Joan, you are my best friend and I want you to know that okay?" I asked her quickly, she nodded but that was all she could do before he slit her throat deeply in one swift movement. Like water dripping from my fingertips; her body fell beneath my reach into the underworld where no one would love her like I did. The fall seemed to take all eternity, in that moment just standing there beside her. The rain drenching us to our bones, finally the sound of her flesh hitting the cold concrete, her soul gone to the winds. My own knees fell down; water splashing around them, blood tearing from her body surrounded me. My hands became soaked in her red poison. I cried out loudly as I got to my feet, sending powerful strands of energy at Elgar who stumbled back foot by foot with each hit. I did not hold back, the lightning seemed to be in tuned with my anger with each hit came a strike at his feet and then a loud rumble to create vibrations through the ground. Within moments I had made him fall to the ground onto his back and my feet were on his chest with my hand coming down through the rain to his throat right where he had killed my best friend. My hand collided with his throat and he was gone, his life was mine. My hand reached to his chest and as if it was nothing I tore his rib cage apart taking out the heart that was no longer beating and lifted it up. Demetrius was standing in the doorway of the castle before he ran out to my side pulling me away from Elgar's body then himself went over checking to see if he was dead then he noticed the heart was gone. I stumbled back with the heart still in my hand. I crawled over to Joan's body and laid over top of her with tears in my eyes just falling over her body, she was gone for real this time. There was no coming back this time, and never again would I laugh with her. I felt my body being pulled away from hers, but the only thing I could hear was the rain in my ears. I dropped his heart in the grass beside her body and then realized that It was Demetrius pulling me up. I turned putting my face into his chest; his hands were tight on my back rubbing it gently.

"We have to get you inside Annabelle," he told me as a few more people came out to clean up after what had occurred. I sobbed into his black tuxedo as I agreed to walk with him inside. Once he had me up in my room he sat me down on the bed my body very clearly in shock still. He had grabbed a mug from a hidden cabinet and made tea in just moments before handing it to me, his hand coming to my shoulder rubbing it gently as he tried me off. He sat beside me staying silent, which was partly what I had wanted, but another part of me wanted him to talk to me. I finally looked to him and frowned wiping my eyes.

"I thought you were the bad guy," I whispered admitting this to him, he laughed lightly though. "Demetrius I am serious…I thought I loved him and I thought you were planning things without telling me," I said with light sobs. He reached over wiping the tears away from under my eyes.

"I believe you, and I am just glad you figured out the truth before you came to kill me." He took my hand lifting it up massaging my fingers, which absolutely calmed me down to being normal. "I would never plan something unless you wanted it, and I would never harm you…trust me," I smiled and nodded at him.

"I think I need some time to be alone though and I wish to have a proper burial for Joan here, and Elgar's body is going to be burned." I informed him looking back down at our hands, how much of a fool I had been. Elgar had managed to make me fall in love with him and lied to me about the one person who I had apparently loved already. I felt so broken and so confused about everything, I laid back on the bed curling up. Demetrius kissed my forehead slowly and whispered goodnight and sweat dreams leaving me to my thoughts.

_ 'You will never be happy again Annabelle, I have always been the one you wanted and now you have acted upon it. Will you tell Demetrius? Will you tell him how our lips locked behind his back while you swore to him you two would be married again? And what now, will you still marry him knowing that deep down in your heart that you miss these lips and this heart you have torn from me? You will see me in hell soon, you will not be able to live without me Queen Annabelle," Elgar's smirk turned into a heavy evil laugh as he stood In front of me. I tried to reach out, wanting to hurt him again, I wanted that body of his to burn in front of me but he just stood there knowing I could not hurt him. I ran towards his body and he turned to smoke reforming behind me as my body hit the ground, skimming my knees. I turned back looking up at him, he stood over me and his fingers reached down into my chest pulling out my heart, I could see him lifting it up, his own heart in the other hand. He looked between the two; I could no longer move, feeling my body drifting off slowly. "These two belong together, they always have Queen Annabelle, and they will always be." His hands clapped together and dust came out floating away into the air. He also faded away from me and I saw Demetrius take his place with his own heart in his hand and put it into my chest._

_ "I would rather die than see you die again," he whispered lying down beside me and passing away within moments. _

"Annabelle?" a voice asked from outside of the nightmare, I moved my neck from side to side with a groan. "Annabelle, you need to wake up now…it has been three days…it is becoming unhealthy for you to sleep this long," It was Demetrius, I instantly recognized his voice. I opened my eyes with a small yawn and smiled thinking about what he had done in the dream for me. I reached up touching his chest.

"No matter what happens, never give up your heart for me please," I whispered which made him raise an eye quite obviously confused by it.

"What does that mean Annabelle…?" He asked helping me sit up a little bit.

"Just a dream I had, that is all…I just want someone I can trust without being afraid of being hurt in the end, is that you?" I asked him and he looked down at his feet.

"I want it to be me but whether or not you trust me is going to be your choice, you have had a lot happen in the last month or so and I know that love with me is the last thing that you need to be focusing on. So I am not too worried, you need to take time to get back to yourself. Do not worry about me; I will be here for you when you are ready to give me your hand in marriage again. Until then I will smile happily on your side watching to make sure that you can stand on your own. And the moment you need someone to lean on I will be there for you." His words were so poetic they lulled me happily; I could trust him it was just too obvious for me to pass up. But I would keep my guard up for a while.

"Thank you Demetrius," I whispered to him leaning up and kissing his cheek softly. I finally got to my feet for the first time in days and I could feel the weight come down on my body. I stretched my arms up into the air then bent backwards to crack my back. I walked over to the bathroom turning the shower water on biting my lip as my parents came into my mind. How were they doing without me there, did they have police searching for me still? I wondered these questions as I undressed. "Demetrius?" I called out with my shirt off having already fallen to the floor. His voice came from right outside the bathroom door.

"Yes Annabelle? Did you need something?" He asked me gently.

"Do you need a shower…?" I asked him quietly, he gave a soft chuckle. I suddenly felt embarrassed, I scrambled for new words.

"Is that an offer you are willing to make so soon?"

"Never mind Demetrius, I…"

"I will be right outside your bedroom door Annabelle, take your time." He told me, I felt relieved that he was so understanding. I slipped into the shower taking my time like he had told me to do. Each drop of water falling down my body washing away the memories of the last few weeks. I scrubbed at my skin so hard that eventually I had caused my arm to start bleeding, sending the red blood rushing down my arm to my feet just like it had from Joan's throat that night. It began to send waves of flashbacks across my eyelids. I pushed my back flat up against the wall in the shower it was freezing but nothing was helping make them fade away. I started screaming, though the words I said I did not know what they were. All I knew was that in moments Demetrius had grabbed me out of the shower pulling me into his arms and his voice was attempting to sooth me.

"Shhh…Annabelle, you are okay, you are safe…shhh…" his head was cradling mine in his chin and his clothes were getting soaked from my wet body. I shivered a little in his grasp having just caught my breath. I pulled back and looked up at him for a moment then went back into his warm hold.

"I am so sorry Demetrius, I began to bleed and then…the memories they took over and…and I cannot seem to get rid of them and the thought…" I began to ramble; he quieted my words with a finger over my lips.

"It is bound to happen Annabelle, do not worry…perhaps I should stay in here so you do not freak out so much, time to yourself mentally can actually be quite dangerous apparently," he tapped our foreheads together before I got up to my feet and jumped into the shower again hiding behind the curtain having forgotten the fact that I was not wearing any clothes.

"You can sit on the floor and talk to me I suppose…that is a good idea," I said looking down at my arm which was already clotting quickly. I kept it away from the water which made it sting.

"How does your arm feel…" he asked me quietly, I heard him start going through a few drawers though.

"It burns when I put it under the water but otherwise it has gone numb, what are you looking for?" I asked him peaking out through the red curtain to see him holding up rubbing alcohol and a cloth with tape.

"When you get out, I will clean it properly for you, we may be immortal but we still need to take care of ourselves, especially since you have not entirely gained back everything yet. Speaking of…" I shut the curtain fully again and let my body become submerged under the water. "We need to get you training, understanding and having control over those magnificent powers of yours. If we do not then the moment you get angry at someone you are going to kill again, and we do not want our beautiful queen going on a murderous spree just simply because someone did something foolish," he smiled, I could hear it in his voice. I laughed gently at this putting some shampoo into my hair and letting it foam up.

"Yes I suppose you are correct, well today is as good as any way I suppose, tonight you will begin to train me. When has the burial been arranged for by the way?" I asked him my voice getting very soft when I spoke of the funeral.

"Since you have woken, we will have it tomorrow before night falls."

"Sounds perfect, where exactly will I be training now?" I asked him curiously; nothing in my memory did I remember a room where I trained.

"Well actually, you have a special room that you created a long time ago, you will see," his voice had a certain swing to its words as he said _special _and _you will see. _I just shrugged and finished cleaning my body and hair before getting out of the shower wrapping the towel around my body.

"Are you going to stay here and watch me get dressed as well?" I asked half playing, half truly asking him.

"Is it an offer?" he winked with a grin then shook his head. "No, I will turn my head but I do not think that you are safe to be left alone just yet. I will be kind though and keep my eyes away from that beautiful body of yours." I put my hands on my hips walking up to him looking down at his soft eyes, I had been so bewitched by Elgar that I had not noticed how kind Demetrius really was.

"You better," I whispered leaning down with a hand on his cheek and a placing my lips against his, his lips instantly kissing mine back. I walked away from him and back into my bedroom where he followed me.

**Chapter 14: Training**

After I changed into a short black dress that found itself just above my knees, I dried my hair and sat beside Demetrius on my bed, he had been looking away the entire time, never once trying to sneak a peek.

"Demetrius…I had to tell you, when I thought he loved me, I kissed him a lot…" I was not the type of person to hide such a thing from anyone.

"I know, you are bad at hiding things from me…" he laughed softly, "you always have been, but I figured that it was your way of testing the waters, and anyhow you technically can kiss anyone you want, since we are not physically married yet."

"But now I am sure, I want you, I want to be married to you again I swear on it." I grabbed his hands and he simply smiled.

"On one condition," he told me watching my reaction turn from confidence to confusion, "you must beat me in one single round of fighting in one weeks time after I have trained you. If you can defeat me then we can begin to arrange our wedding dates. I promise." He squeezed my hands and kissed the top waiting for my answer.

"You. Are. On." I jumped up cracking my fingers and felt a burst of energy and happiness flowing through my veins. Then it hit me again, the depression and sadness of Joan's death, but I pushed it aside trying not to think about it. I spent the next few hours addressing those who I looked over in this world and explained much of what they had missed. After that I headed to Demetrius room knocking on his door then leaned against the wall beside it waiting. I heard a few things get knocked over inside and looked over at the door as it opened and Demetrius stumbled out into the hallway.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked him with my eye raised, he nodded with a laugh.

"Yeah, just was not paying attention where I was going, do not worry. Now let's get going, you can't train alone." He grinned taking my hand and walked down towards the downstairs of the place, where there was an empty hall where he led me. Once he opened the door I saw everything inside light up. The walls were lined with weapons of all sorts, not guns but swords and knives. My eyes got wide and my jaw dropped in excitement. I felt my heart rate jump from nothing to double speed as I walked over tracing my fingers against the walls looking at everything. The room was huge, and there were obstacles in the center, everything someone could possibly need to honestly fight. He stood in the center with his arms crossed.

"Choose your weapon and we will begin," he smirked. I went over to the swords and touched one with one finger. Instantly I felt a twinge in my bones, this was the one. This was my weapon and it would help me defeat him. "I see things never change," he noted. I looked over at him as I pulled the sword down off the wall.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I inquired raising my eye.

"Well, when you first began to fight, that was your weapon of choice back then as well, and you never used anything different. It is odd how much you have not changed and yet how different you really are inside," he went over grabbing a thicker sword, the blade was not as sharp but it had more strength in its size. Mine was the most beautiful silver with a thin blade but it was sharp as anything compared to the others in the room. I turned it sideways and you could not even see it except for the shine that it gave off.

"Very well then Demetrius, shall we begin?" I asked him crouching down slightly into the attack mode sort of pose. He simply laughed at me and slid the sword against the ground in a circle around him.

"Are you sure you are ready? Because I will not take it easy once you learn the basics," he grinned. I put my fingers up curling them towards me.

"I told you to bring it on sir, now stop chatting and begin to train me," I winked as he came at me, instantly my reflexes stirred and blocked his sword mid air, barely an inch from my face.

"Too close, try again," he told me moving around, I continuously attempting to block his hits but a few of them he knocked his blade against my skin muttering 'dead' or 'hit' until finally I did a decent block about two hours after starting. "Finally you are getting the hang of it, now the real fun start," he went over to the wall flicking a few switches, it turned dark and the obstacles and noises began to change, it felt like nightfall surrounded by some trees and animals. "I am your target, find me Annabelle," He whispered as I heard his feet move. I followed the movements with the sword on my guard ready to strike but I felt a cold blade against my throat, and his voice. "You must remember that I can go around you from the back," he noted letting the blade down and I took my breath with a sigh. "Go again." He moved but before he could get too far I had danced around his body so quietly about to strike when he simply put up his sword for an easy block.

"How do you know where I am all the time? Why can I not do that with you?" I asked him a bit frustrated. He grinned and took my hand rubbing it against his cheek.

"Your scent, and your emotions are not masked, you must learn to do that." I took my hand back and rubbed my face in anger. "Simply hide yourself, the more you believe that you are not there, the more hidden you are, like this." He slowly faded from all existence around me, and then appeared behind me with his words. "Now you try. "he backed away from me giving me some space. I shut my eyes and just thought of myself becoming invisible and disappearing from here, from everywhere. Being the girl that no one knew again, that world instantly pulled my aura and scent from the air and clutching it tightly. I could see him begin to search for me, I moved around some of the high obstacles shaped like trees He had no idea where I was, and this was finally a fair fight. I got up behind him but something made a noise alerting him. He turned around and we commenced a good fight between swords. Mine was quicker than him so I managed to let the blade hit the side of his body and smirked. The lights came on and everything settled down.

"There is the fighter I knew, you are good at masking, and you must subconsciously remember doing it so much. Eventually it will become second nature again as well." He said going to put his sword back onto the wall. "Come now, I think this has been enough training for a single day." He attempted to take my sword from me but I slid the tip to his throat the pulled it away and placed it back on the wall myself.

"Do not touch what is mine, I feel very protective from that sword." It was the truth, I felt like I was abandoning it by just leaving it there. I stared at it then grabbed it up again, "I am taking it with me." I told him and grabbed the case that was next to it, it slid right in and then sat on my hip for our walk back up to my room. Once back into my room he shut the door behind us.

"How was kissing him compared to my lips?" he asked not sounding hurt or anything, just curious. I looked down at my hands, they had been so eager to take Elgar that they felt like enemies.

"They were…soft, but held something that yours do not have, evil." I told him although I would have never known that until he had tried to kill me. The taste of the man had left a permanent taste of disgust. "Nothing compared to the single kiss you and I have had recently, I swear. I will make it all up to you I promise." I said looking over at him, he shook his head.

"There is nothing to make up to me Annabelle, you were being yourself and you made a mistake. You are perfectly fine, okay?" He got to his feet as I nodded, "Now will you please join me for a small supper downstairs? They have made it specially for us. Your favorite food will be served, you do remember what that is correct?"

"If it is mashed potatoes with some chicken, then yes. Anything else, no…" I laughed a bit and he grabbed my hand pulling me towards the door.

"You will be happy then, very very…happy"

We attended the funeral the next day, everything in order like I had asked. Beautiful red roses filled the room, they were her favorite flower, and she laid beautifully in the casket made of perfect mahogany wood. I had it so people could come say their prayers and whatnot for her then just leave nothing too personal since I was the only one that had a personal connection. I stood in front of her the entire time just looking down at her body, she seemed so at peace, I had not seen this serenity all her life. It was sad and yet something inside of me wondered if that was how I looked like when I died. Demetrius stood welcoming people and thanking them as they left, monitoring the room. Once I thought it was proper time I had her casket closed and her body lowered into the cement ground that I had prepared with her name written above. I stood there for what felt like hours but it was only about an hour in total. Demetrius had come up behind me and put his hand down on my shoulder.

"She is in peace now Annabelle, allow her to rest," his hand slid down to mine taking it slowly until he knew that I would go with him. I said my parting goodbyes and walked with him to the outside where it was misting slightly, the clouds covering the entire sky. "Would you like to go for a stroll near the waterfall?" he asked me, I nodded and he brought me down the path.

"Do you believe everything happens for a reason?" I asked him as I saw the waterfall in sight.

"I do actually, and to answer your next question yes I believe she died for a reason, to make you stronger…to show you that not everything is so easy."

"You are right, not everything is easy…it is anything but," I smiled faintly as I looked down at my reflection in the clear water. Demetrius leaned over and I saw our faces together, a small tear from my eye dropping down and sending ripples through our eyes. I knelt down and slid the tip of my finger into the water circling it gently.

"Queen Annabelle, please smile for me…" he asked gently, I looked over and smiled gently at him. "Beautiful," he whispered and touched my cheek softly leaning over and kissing my left cheek then my forehead. I laughed a little shaking my head before putting my hand on the back of his neck and pulling his face to mine to kiss his lips fully.

"My lips are right here Demetrius," I whispered to him.

"I will try to remember that," he smiled and kissed me back, it felt so right with him, even better than it had for the short time with Elgar. I clutched his shirt in my hands pulling him over top of me as I laid back on the ground. He was gentle with each kiss, his lips leading away from mine to down my neck which was extremely sensitive. The sun went down beneath the trees and we fell asleep on the ground in one another's arms.

**Chapter 15: Love Again**

Over the next few months things became normal and Demetrius and I had fallen head over heels for one another again, I could not help myself around him, our lips simply attracted to each other like they were magnets. It was around Christmas, three days before Christmas day to be exact when he came to room one early afternoon and asked to come outside with him. It was snowing lightly and the sun was just beginning to set. He held my hand softly as we strolled passed the frozen water, small birds were singing in the bare trees. In this world, they were able to survive apparently, I had learned so much since I had come back. Not once had I gone back to the mortal world to see my parents even though quite often I had dreams about them holding me with smiles. My thoughts were disrupted when he stopped walking in front of a large tree and spoke.

"Queen Annabelle…Annie;" he smiled and knelt down on his one knee, my eyes widened instantly, I could feel my heart jumping through my chest trying to get out.

"Demetrius…" I whispered. He smiled taking my hand kissing the top then pulling out a red box with a bow which he pulled off slowly.

"I believe that over the last few months I have fallen in love with you all over again," he smiled at me holding my one hand while his other opened the box. Inside held the most beautiful black and white diamond engagement ring that I had ever seen. It was in the shape of the princess cut which was my absolute favorite. I stared down at it hearing ringing in my ears then I heard him talk again. "Will you marry me Annabelle?" He asked me and I seemed stunned even though I knew it was coming. I could just nod my words unable to come out until finally I said yes. He took the ring out and slid it onto my finger; I looked down in awe at it. He gathered up to his feet lifting me up off the ground and kissed my lips deeply. The scene was just perfect with the slow snow and the ring glistening off of every surface. Once he put me down I held my hands on his cheeks smiling so much I could feel my cheeks starting to hurt.

"I love you," I whispered for the first time in this physical body. He absolutely loved it, saying the words back to me. "Let's go tell everyone," I said stepping close to him, he agreed and brought me towards the castle. We began to tell everyone that there would be a gathering within the hour, I went and changed into a beautiful pink dress that fell down to the floor trailing behind me, my cheer was just so apparent. Once everyone was gathered in the hall, both Demetrius and I stood on top of the stairs so that we could be seen by everyone.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice…we have good news, you all have a king once again, true as always to me and all of you," a loud clap began throughout the room. I smiled feeling my face turn red lightly. "The wedding will be this coming Saturday and we need a lot of arrangements done, so please gather with Jerald to find your spot in it," I pointed to the man I had appointed as the coordinator. He was thing very flamboyant with a gray scarf around his neck. He lifted a hand enjoying the recognition from me. His teeth gleaming, I would have to get very close to him since I had a feeling he was a good person. The room simply looked to him once I dismissed them from the meeting, and then began to line up instantly to speak to him. He lifted his clip board he had brought with him, pages upon pages already written, checking names off as they came up to him. I felt like a huge family here, everyone was willing to help no matter who it benefited in the end. Demetrius took me down towards the training room which was not what I was expecting exactly.

"Why are you bringing me down here?" I asked him as he opened the door for me.

"Well, no matter what is going on you are still not completely at full strength so I want to train at least twice a week until I know you are safe to fight on your own, I just care about you so much Annabelle," he whispered to me kissing my lips very gently before going to get his usual thick bladed sword while I walked over taking my own sword that I had used since the very first time sliding my finger skillfully against its blade without getting cut and then held it to my side going into my stance which was being trademarked every time I did it, I grinned as my feet stood shoulder length apart and my swords point sat directly in front of my body.

"Are you ready to get your ass kicked?" I asked him with a smirk. He simply raised his eye and created his own stance with the sword in mid air and kneeling a little bit.

"Just like you said when we first began, bring it on little girl…" he grinned to me. In an instant I was lashing at him with my aura hidden and the darkness covering me like a secret as I snuck around him leaving traces of where i had been to confuse him, a trick I had taken as my own. He turned confused as ever as I put my sword against his neck pulling him slightly back against me as I whispered to him.

"I think I can handle myself now," I whispered. He grinned turning around to face me leaving a small slice mark on his neck, "that will not looks too nice on our wedding day," I told him leaning there to lick away the wound, the taste of blood was becoming second nature, like a treat to me. We did not create incidents on purpose but when blood flowed it was beyond enjoyment. He shut his eyes and let me heal him before he pushed me down onto the ground with own sword coming to my stomach.

"While in battle never heal the enemy," he said shaking his head with a smirk and talked away as I got up flicking on the lights to end the fight.

"Forgive me for wanting to make sure my fiancé was alright," I teased him as I put the sword down onto the wall. He mimicked the movement and then came up behind me wrapping his hands around my hips.

"You are ready if a war comes to us," he told me with gentle kisses on my shoulders now. "Come with me upstairs and take a shower…together," he said taking my hand which I willingly gave him and followed like a puppy. He took me upstairs to my bedroom and as soon as I shut the door he picked me up wrapping my legs around his hips and carrying me over to the bed laying me back and kissing down my body to my hips then pulled down my panties that I had on underneath the dress. I sat up and looked at him gently, we had not gone all the way yet, just kissing and touching. "Shower…" he whispered and pulled the dress up over my head letting it sit on the bed. I nodded and put my hands on his pants unbuttoned them before pushing them down to the ground. He pulled me up to my feet and i walked ahead to my bathroom pushing the door open then turned the shower on. We spent nearly an hour just cleaning our bodies in the shower, never getting too sexual beyond a little bit of touching. We both got out together and got changed into normal clothes, some jeans for me with a tank top and jeans with a tee shirt for him, i did not want to wear a dress at the moment. I laid down on my bed shutting my eyes softly and smiled, it felt like everything was finally falling into place. I opened my one eye to see him laying down next to me.

"Do you want to be here? You do not have to if you do not want to, you can go off and do whatever you wish, i feel like we have not been apart since this whole big thing happened," i whispered to him watching his every move.

"I do not have anything else i need to do and nowhere i would rather be then with my soon to be wife again," he grinned.

"You really love saying that whole Wife to be again, don't you?" i raised my eye at him. He nodded quietly at me and rolled onto his back.

"I do very much but i hope it does not bother you Queen Annabelle," he lifted my hand rubbing my fingers gently.

"First, to you i am Annie, and you know that or at least i hope you know that..." i said quickly sitting up holding his hands.

"Of course Annabelle...I mean Annie...no i like your full name, Annabelle, it is simply beautiful. So I hope you do not mind me calling you by it," he rambled slightly. I just shrugged like it did not matter. "But no i would rather be here with my soon to be wife again," he smirked. I shoved him away a little, those pictures on the walls in the halls depicted exactly what we had,a very romeo and Juliet relationship. It was my dream that I had always wished for.

"Well Demetrius, then kiss me." I whispered to him and he leaned over giving me the kiss that i wanted.

Over three days time they had managed to make almost every arrangment possible for the wedding. I had been sized and fitted for my dress which was a long white one that had ruffles along the bottom of it; it was very simple and yet to me it held every peice of cloth it needed. I had to try it on the day before the wedding to make sure that it was still perfect, i stood upon a round pedistool off the ground and it spun with mirrors all around me. I could see every inch of me reflecting in the mirrors off the small glitter spots on the dress. I could not help but smile deeply as some of the women in the room came to tailor just little spots.

"This dress is beyond perfect, you are all wonderful people. If any of you get married, or remarried, or anything please let me now and i will help," i exclaimed as they just smiled up at me, they were fairly young looking but that could be decieving for us. Once they were finished they let me have one good last look at myself before i took it off and changed back into my normal gray dress to go look at the ball room which was being decorated for the wedding. It was decorated with a light blue theme and silver with its accent color. Everywhere you looked there was a small sparkle or something to catch your eye. It felt certainly like a Christmas wedding. It was perfect to me and nothing could ruin it anymore, or so i thought. The day of the wedding was here and i was getting into the dress with my make up being done. I had them only put some light colors on, nothing too drastic. I felt my heart pounding in my chest while waiting for the moment to come. I had no one walking me down the isle so i held the iced flowers in my fingers standing in front of the doors waiting just waiting. It felt like it took all eternity for that song to begin playing and the noise of everyone standing up from their chair. The doors opened up for me and it felt almost blinding to walk inside where i was finally meeting my life dream, again... He stood up by the man who had agreed to marry us and held his hands behind his back waiting for me, i could see him fidget a little bit. I got to the front and handed off the flowers before he took my hand and squeezed it lightly whispering hello, i whispered it back. The man began the marriage speech, one that we had opted to not be so long. It was simple and to the point, then we got to say our vows. He went first; holding both my hands tightly.

"I know that this has not been easy for you Queen Annabelle, and it will not be easy no matter how long we are together or how long we live. But i love you beyond anything else and we will be together as long as you wish for it to be. I just want you to know that anything you need me to do, i will do...whatever it is, i swear on my life, just let me know and i will put my life on the line if that is what it is," he said very strongly. I smiled happily at his response and then began on mine, we were both doing it just by each moment, nothing written.

"Demitrius, you have no idea how much i have been through, i had gone through a life which turned out to be an coma to a life i never knew, to this life which i had suppoedly already lived before. Things have not made sense for a very long time for me and the only thing that stayed the same through all those lives, was you. And for this i am thankful, you must really love me to keep such loyalty and dedication to a dead wife having to wait so long for me. I love you Demitrius and I can not wait to be your wife," i felt a small tear falling over my cheek. The man finished his words up; we did the ring ceremony and then pronounced us married telling us to kiss. Demitrius pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply in front of the entire room.

"And now you are mine," he smiled taking me down the isle with everyone clapping, i was so wrapped up in my excitment and happiness that i could care less what anyone really thought. He brought me out to a large stretch limo that was waiting for us out front. "I was thinking...Russia..." When he said Russia i raised my eye curisouly.

"What is in Russia?" i asked him. He simply shrugged as he pushed a button to shut the window to the back seat. He pulled me closer and started kissing my lips. "Demitrius...Russia sounds perfect then, when are we leaving?" i asked and i could feel his lips turn into a grin.

"Right now my love, all our things have been shipped there except a single bad right under those seats that have clothes we can change into," he pointed to the furthest seat before pushing me down on the seat leaning over top kissing down my neck. I looked over at the bags and pushed him off going to grab them careful not to fall down. I opened the bag and saw a pair of my favorite black jeans and a red corset that i had gotten a few weeks back when he was not looking. "You thought i did not know you bought that?" He asked with a slightly smug look on his lips. "I know everything you do Annabelle," he told me very clearly. I pulled them out and pulled the jeans on underneath the dress. "What are you doing?"

"My legs are cold, and we should both change into normal clothes, if we are getting on a plane i do not want to be wearing a wedding dress," i laughed. He simply raised an eye when i said plane.

"Why would we be going on a plane? I can just bring us there with teleporation, why would we use such a mortal way of travel..." he mocked me a little, "You lived in their realm far too long," he told me with a shake of his head crawling over to me on the floor. The limo had stopped at a light or something cause for a moment we were at that pause. He turned me over laying me on my back and ran his hand down my sides. I blushed furiously at his fingers though i would be feeling them often i guessed.

"At least wait to do that until we get to Russia please? I do not want my first time in the back of a limo..." i whispered a little afraid that he would not want to wait but he respected my wish and got up to the seat.

"Keep the dress on, Russia usually gives rooms for free for newly weds," he noted looking out the tinted windows, we could see out but no one could see in. In just moments the limo was rushing past buildings that i did not recognize, going after then a limo should be able to.

"Where are we exactly..." i asked him.

"Somewhere in the U.S. We will be to Russia in about ten minutes," he said casually like it was nothing. Soon enough we were somehow driving over the water, i saw some fish just barely for a moment before we met land again, this was so different then where i was used to. I gasped almost at the fact that no one was freaking out at an american limo whizzing by without care. The limo finally slowed down and came to a stop in front of a top quality Russian hotel, the area must have been good because almost everyone i saw was American still. "Shall we?" Demitrius asaked, i had almost forgotten why we were here, simply amazed by everything else. He took my hand pulling me out of the car and grabbing the two small bags before walking to the front door where we were welcomed in like royalty (the irony there was demeaning). Inside it was filled with crystals and everything one with money could afford.

"Do you really think they are going to give us a free night?" i asked quietly.

"I know they will because i have already spoken to them," he told me welcoming a man into his arms who then came to me kisisng my hand like all of the gentleman had done since i had started my new life. "Ah my friend, shall we go up to the room and make sure it is all correct?" he spoke to him and he simply nodded with two sets of keys in his hand, which he handed to each of us then led up to the top floor which only had one room. When he opened the door i nearly fainted, i was used to the mansion but this in the mortal world was just beyond beautiful! It had full wall sized windows that showed Russia in its glory, white chairs and tables with flowers, everything that would be needed in the honeymoon suite, they had it down to the little mini fridge with alcoholic beverages. The man spoke to Demtirius in Russian while i walked in dropping my bag and falling onto the couch happily letting out an excited squeel. I had gone through with it and now life was how it should end, if i were to die at this moment i would be satisfied. He walked over and took my hand pulling me back to my feet. The other man had left us, leaving us alone.

"What?" i asked him as he looked deep into my eyes, i felt my cheeks become red. He swung me around a little dancing slowly through the room with me.

"Nothing at all my beautiful wife, just admiring what I have gotten and wondering how i could have possibly gained the most precious woman in the world..." his words were like that of a line from a romantic movie. It made me laugh at him and shake my head.

"Demitrius you are starting to sound sort of like a movie, too much like a movie...please stop," i whispered looking down at my feet, his finger came to my chin. He lifted it up and kissed my lips happily.

"Anything you say Annabelle," his words were soft and lulling with each touch coming just as gently. I fell into his hold as we danced around the room and into the bedroom where he laid me down very smoothly and laid over top of my body. I felt every inch in my body become numb and tingle a little bit. My heartbeat pulsed in my wrists and every other part of my body. His lips traveled down my neck but i pushed him away shaking my head gently.

"No...no we can not do this just yet," i whispered to him. He lifted his head looking down at me confused, almost hurt. "I am sorry but i am still not ready to give it away yet, even though one day it will be to you." I told him though somewhere inside i was not going to make any promises to him. "Just please...do not make any more moves until i tell you i am ready, this is my only request right now," i whispered with a sigh. He nodded and got up off of me walking away. This had obviously made him pissed off at me, and on our wedding night. I was making a great impression on him aleady, i thought to myself sarcastically. I pounded my hands onto the bed and sighed sitting up finding our clothes he had packed and looked through them to find a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Moments later i heard a loud crash in the living room, i instantly went out to see what it was. Like lightning striking down on the ground, i saw everything in the room being turned upside down in rages of anger from Demtiruis it seemed. But then i saw him fighting off a black figure from the corner. Instantly i flared the anger inside of me to protect him and ran towards him but when i got close the figure was gone and he was simply fighting thin air.

"Demitrius," i said to him quietly. but he just glanced over. His eyes were pure black, scary as ever. Never had i ever felt this sort of fear inside my chest since i had gone to live with him in our world. I backed away from him slowly, he came after me stalking me slowly, was this really the man i just gave my life to? I backed up not knowing that a wall was there until my back was up against it. I shut my eyes feeling sudden impending doom. "Demitrius, why are you..doing this," i stuttered quietly feeling my body shake. He grabbed my wrist so tightly, that i was unable to control my powers, i could not even activate them. His touch seemed to put a ohld on anything i could controll. He let one of my wrists go but i was still unable to do anything.

"Bringing you back was not my idea, if it were really up to me i would have let you stay dead little wench," he whispered reaching into my pocket. "Your silly little boyfriend who you secretly loved behind our married backs, well he told me that i would want you back. But he was wrong all along," he growled. I was so confused right there in that moment. Elgar had tried to murder me, and he was the one ttrying to bring me back? "He was not the one that night trying to murder you, no i put a curse on him to be under my very control. You murdered your true love, and then dropped him heart on the ground. How are you feeling my love," he said darkly. I turned my head away from him as his lips came to my ear and a knife came to my stomach. He traced it in cirlces up to my neck which had a faint beat to it.

"I am feeling hatred," i admitted to him.

"And what if i killed you right here right now, you could join Elgar, he would love to see you in hell." He smirked as i felt his lips on my neck which made me want to just take that knife and shove it into his heart. But his body pushed up against mine and the knife came to my neck just beneath his lips. It made it impossible for me to move anything.

"Then do it, at least i will be able to see someone who is not a complete liar." I growled to him, at this point dying a second time could not be all that awful. "Then at least maybe i can marry him in hell and i will never have to see you again, only in nightmares," i hissed.

"Very well then," His words were short and quick as i felt the cold blade slid across my neck. I almost did not feel it, just the cold blade finding its way off of my neck and then warmth spilling over my skin. The blood was falling down on to the clothing that i was wearing. My lips attempted to speak but nothing happened, just air getting caught in my throat and my knees fell on to the floor. My vision slowly faded, everything in front of me was becoming blurry. My body was turned over and I saw Demitrius lean down towards me.

"My dear wife, enjoy your second death...you will not be back for a third time," he whispered. Within just moments i was gone, dead again. I felt my body drifting away, everything so light right then. I felt almost happy, no pain finally. I felt my soul drift towards a light but when i looked back i saw a few familar faces, my parents, those back in my world...they needed me. I tried to go back but the tug on me was extremely strong, until i wished to stay and help them, to get rid of the evil that was overtaking my people. My tug changed, and i was sent through a dark portal which sucked me in and i stood in the center of my house that I was brought to after the hospital stay. I looked around frantically wondering why i was here, how i was here. I heard voices downstairs so i walked towards them not feeling anything different just yet.

"Mom? Dad?" i asked looking for them, turning the corner into my room and seeing them embracing one another, my father holding her saying small words to calm her down. She sobbed into his shirt as i walked in, something inside of me felt right suddenly calling them my parents. As if suddenly i realized that they were the ones who had taken care of me when i was sick. "Mom, I am back!" i yelled going to hug them but my body went right through them like smoke, it felt like tiny pin pricks going through my body as i hit the floor. I groaned and looked at my hands which came back to what appeared to be a solid form. I sat up a little freaked out, i really was dead. I got to my feet and my heart, or what my heart would have physically done if i were alive, began to beat so hard that i thought that it was nearly impossible to be dead. But when i placed my hand over my heart there was nothing there, no beat not even the tiniest bit. I staggered back and felt the air take my feet off the ground, a whole nother world was at my finger tips. I went to the window floating over the floor until i got to it, i concentrated hard on opening it up. My parents turned their heads as a gust of wind came in and pushed their hair. My mother stepped away from her husband and towards me, my feet fell to the ground feeling my eyes well up a little like hers. She could see me, i could tell. Her hand reached out for me.

"Annabelle..." she whispered to me, i nodded and reached my own hand out touching hers and for a split moment she stared directly at me, only the way one could if they saw the person standing there. She gasped and backed up a few inches her eyes averting becoming oblivious to the fact that i was still there. "Honey, she is here...she is still with us, but...that means..." she faded out. My father grabbed her body pulling her back to him and hushing her.

"The police have her on a look out list, they have not found her body anywhere, she can not be dead...not yet," he assured her but was definteily as wrong as you could get. I knew that she would never let me go and neither would he, for now they were safe with assuming i was alive somewhere. Until i was ready to let them go, i would let them have those thoughts. I went out the window, feeling the ability to move through the air with ease come to me instantly. I simply shut my eyes and i was back at the other world where Demitrius had already returned, time must have passed since i truely passed away because he had already returned and taken control of the place. He ruled it like it was his own personal home with people slaving away with their bodies falling apart. I gasped at what i was seeing as i turned around and ran towards the inside of the mansion. Once inside i frantically looked for Demitrius, to hunt him down. I would find a way to kill him, he loved death so much i would give it to him right then and there. But when I found him he was in a bedroom with another woman, even though he had killed me i still felt a twinge of pain and jealousy in my body. Less then twenty four hours later after losing his wife, he was sleeping with another woman. This just over did it and i growled going towards them pouncing on the bed to tear him off, my concentration and anger made it possible to push him to the ground. The girl barely looked fifteen, i went after him. He looked around confused as to why he was thrown onto the ground, apparently unable to see me. He scrambled up to his feet looking down at his new play toy.

"What the hell!" he growled down at her, she sat up flipping him off yelling that she had not done anything to him. "Who did it then? You and I are the only ones in here, how else did i get THROWN away from you huh?" he picked up her clothes throwing it at her, she pulled them on and ran out of the room. "Stupid whore," he muttered. I went over shoving him down on the bed, his head spinning wildly in confusion. "Who is there? Eh!" he yelled out, i went over slamming his door shut loudly locking it then was back stradling his hips with my hand to his neck. I held my emotions tightly like i had with my mother and his eyes became wide so i knew he could see me. "Annabelle..." he said with his breath becoming caught up in his throat. "But i killed you!" he yelled in confusion still but did not try to push me off. "You look extremely irresitable right now by the way." He noted but i changed that thought for him right away, sending a punch to his stomach. He groaned and his chest curled in pain.

**Chapter 16: Revenge is so Sweet**

"You may have murdered me Demitrius but yet i am still here and i will take you with me to hell if i must so you can see me and Elgar together and with you had never dabbled in my affairs," i hissed. He pushed me away and i was out of his sight again, i stepped behind him running a finger over his spine, he felt this because he shuttered and turned looking for me. I spoke loud enough for him to hear me. "Can you not see me Demitrius? Was it not you that said hide yourself while in combat? You should really take your own fucking advice," the curse slipped through my lips.

"Is there something you want? Or just my life because you are mad that i took your life again, you were lucky enough to even get a second chance. You being an idiot child and dying the first time...you should have been more careful. I did love you back then i swear but things changed while you were gone..." he said turning around staring into blank spaces. I stood seeing everything however, the small specs that were surrounding his head, the heat spots on the walls. His fear radiating from his fingertips.

"I suppose the thing i want most is revenge...for you lying and for you killing me the second time, that is all. Then even when i am done with you i will create a better world for these people. How does that sound?" i reached grabbing his wrist so he could see me. I pulled him and shoved him against the wall still in only his boxers. "You should really learn that younger is not always better too..." i said hesitantly holding back from taking his life right there.

"Revenge? I never thought you had that sort of soul, if i had known that perhaps i would have kept you alive..." he told me but i knew that it was just words he was using to postpone his end. I shook my head sliding my hand into my pocket which suddenly had a knife inside of it, the same one he used to kill me just hours before it seemed. "How did you get that?" he asked watching it become lifted.

"Not sure but right now i am pretty excited that it is this knife actually. And quite frankly it will be fun to use it on you," i told him the blood still on the tip. I turned it sideways as i slid it over his neck gently, he cringed but grinned.

"I like this side of you Annabelle, you should have shown it to me before i would have bent you over every surface i could find," even in this siutation he made a sexual joke? He deserved nothing but death at this point. I did not waste another moment, i dropped him to his knees with the same move he put on me, the slice to the throat. He was gone by time he fell to the ground and i felt a part of my soul become more fullfilled. I went to a woman who had been very kind to me there, she was strong willed but no one knew it...yet. I held her hands creating the visible body of mine to be seen by her.

"You are now the queen, do well with this power," i told her and gave her the key that the queen would hold. I waited a few days, just wandering seeing that she would do well in this position. I then returned to my home, my father had gone off to work. It was late in the morning, my mother still laid in bed. I could not believe that after a whole year of me missing she was still like this. I walked over to the bed she was on and sat in front of her rubbing her back, her eyes opened at my touch. Instantly she saw me, it was amazing how quickly and how easily she was able to see her dead daughter.

"You are no longer alive are you Annabelle..." she asked with a hoarse throat and a small stiffled cry. I smiled at her, i was not sure why but i felt almost happy that she assumed that.

"You are correct, I am not alive any longer but i have a lot to tell you about," I whispered to her and laid down next to her. She reached over running her fingers through my hair, the touch felt so very familar. "Are you ready to hear it all?" i asked her, she nodded. "You can not tell father or anyone else about any of it though...you must harbor this as a secret," She agreed and listened to me tell everything i knew about the coma dream and then the real life i had lived before. It took nearly all day for the story to be told. Never once did she move or get up from that bed until my story came to the end. She stared astounded at my story and some tears were in her eyes.

"You are so strong Annabelle...and your name, i knew that it was perfect, no wonder..." she smiled pulling me closer, this time i did not fall just past her but i could feel her lively warmth. "I love you Annabelle, and although you will be gone very soon i promise that i will have a grave made for you and i will visit it every week, i swear..until my dying day itself," she whispered but i shook my head.

"No, please do not do that. You will never have a grave filled with my body and it is far too expensive. I am in peace now, and i want it to be this way...Tell father i am happy and i am watching over you guys. Okay?"

"Okay sweetie...you go find that light now," she told me holding me closer and i took in her scent before she let go. I faded away from her and walked over towards the window. I searched over the land feeling my body become lighter then it was and then it was time, i saw the sky light up. The clouds began to part and i saw a beam of light headed for me. I stood still in the center of the sky waiting for it to reach me. Once it did i felt the warmth over take me, was i heading to heaven? My lips could not help but smile as i waved goodbye to my world and was welcomed into the clouds, into this yet again new life. I shut my eyes and i was there, with everything i could ever want. I walked over the clouds looking down to see i wore a white dress that was flowing over my thin physhick. I saw Elgar in the distance waiting for me, it was like some love story again, the one i always loved waiting for me in the end, except this time it was real and i was the one in love. I ran towards him and he lifted me into his arms kissing my lips happily,

"I knew you would return to me," he told me quietly kissing me again, smothering me with that love. "He will be in hell though, he will be unable to see us and die enterally from jealousy." He said spinning me around then lifting my hand and placing a ring with a heart diamond on top. "Be my wife forever in heaven?" he smiled. I nodded quickly looking down at the new ring, this one felt right to wear.

"For all eternity, i would be yours over and over and over agian, i promise you this. SO this is heaven, it is everything i could wish for..." I wrapped myself in his arms, loving every moment of this. And i would love it for all my life, nothing here could go wrong. So that is the story of my life...or should I say my lives. All of them intertwined all of them playing a huge part in my final one, that we call death. There will never be a second part to this story because heaven is everything someone expects it to be. I am not sure if it is simply my mind putting images in my head for the hell of it, but if this is not real then I do not want reality. If this is really what heaven is like then i wish you all a nice life and i will meet you when you join me up here. Demitrius has been sent below, there i could not tell you how it is though. This story must now come to an end, and for this i am sorry. I hope you have enjoyed listening to everything, and i hope that you find your own Elgar, and never a Demitrius whom will tear you down until you can no longer stand. Jeg bød deg avskjed...Farewell.


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